Her Special Light
by xxEmilyy
Summary: Anastasia Steele comes to the small town of Redgate to start a new life with her newly divorced step-dad, Ray, to escape her horrible one in Seattle. She has no interest in romance or anything to do with boys besides friendship. Can a certain copper-haired, gray eyed boy help change her feelings?
1. Prologue

"Mom!" I screamed as my mother hit the floor, unconscious. Her husband, the one I couldn't stand, Hugh, turned his blazing green eyes towards me. My body begin to shake, I didn't know what to do. I made a break for my mom, but he caught me and threw me up against the wall, arms caging me.

"What am I going to do with you, Ana?" he asks as he moves a strand of my brown hair out of my face. Tears were staining my pale skin. I looked down at my mom and her lifeless body. _Mom..._

"Please stop," I whimper as the tears continued.

"You see that's the thing, Annie, I don't want to. Your mom has pissed me off and she learned her lesson. Now it's your turn."

_What?_

"Me? What did I do?" I ask in panic.

"You're her daughter, you're a lot like her. If she needs to be taught a lesson, so do you." Suddenly a flash of white comes out of nowhere and all I see is black.


	2. Chapter 1

I stand on the sidewalk in front of Redgate District High School. My step-dad, Ray and I moved to this little town in Pennsylvania after he and my mom divorced three months ago. I had the option to stay with her, but she's too much of a wreck since her last husband. She doesn't want to leave.

I look around to see students heading through the front doors, not bothering to notice me. I sigh and slowly make my way towards the double doors. I walk through and head to the office.

Once I get my schedule and my locker number, I head straight for it. When I find it, I dial in the combination and begin exchanging material. As I'm doing so, a gorgeous strawberry blonde approaches me. She's smiling, flashing me perfect white teeth. She's skinny, wearing designer clothes and just looks like every boy's dream date.

"Anastasia Steele?" she asks me.

I nod.

She puts her hand out. "Hi, I'm Katherine Kavanagh, but you can call me Kate for short." I shake her hand and smile. When I take my hand back, we stand there in an awkward silence as the other students pass by us to get to class or meet up with their friends.

"Do you talk?" Kate asks me.

I nod. "Yeah, s-sorry, I'm really nervous. I don't do so well in new schools." I blush.

"Don't worry about, just stick with me and you'll be just fine." She offers me a warm, kind smile and I immediately feel more at ease.

Kate and I bond over boys, school and our families. We're momentarily interrupted when she calls someone over.

"Ethan!" I turn around to see a really cute blonde boy walking toward us. I quickly turn back to look at Kate and she smiles. _Does this girl ever stop smiling? _When the blonde boy reaches us, Kate wraps an arm around his shoulders. I look down in disappointment, of course they're together.

"Ana, I'd like you to meet my brother, Ethan," Kate says. _Brother? _Boy, don't I feel like an idiot.

Ethan smiles at me and holds his hand out. "Nice to meet you, Ana."

I blush and shake his hand. But within a moment I'm no longer disappointed about these two being together, but now I remember my oath. I would never trust another guy in my life. After Hugh, my mom's abusive husband before Ray, and my sex-addicted ex-boyfriend, Joe, I've sworn off guys for good. I have no problem being their friend, but I have no reason to offer myself romantically to anyone.

"And here comes the King," Kate says in disgust, looking behind me. I turn to see the most beautiful guy I have ever seen in my entire life. He was tall, maybe six-three, with copper-colored hair, gray eyes and...a woman hanging on his arm. She was pretty. But in a way it was weird because she almost looks like me.

"Don't even waste your time," Ethan says, pulling me back. I turn around to look at him and he's staring at me.

"I wasn't-"

He smirks. "No worries. But not only is he taken, he's the town's richest-"

"And most obnoxious-" Kate cuts in.

"High school student." Ethan shakes his head.

"Rich and obnoxious? Sounds like a cliche to me." I smile. Both of them return my smile and return to glaring at Mr. Copper-Haired.

The bell rings and everyone begins to scatter. I look at my schedule before Kate snatches it to take a look.

"Damn, I have no classes with you." She frowns. Ethan looks over her shoulder and smiles.

"Cool, you have English and Chem with me." I smile and take my schedule back.

Mine and Ethan's English class in near Kate's Yearbook class, so she walks with us. We're near our classroom when Kate gets halted from behind. I turn to see a cute guy with curly blonde hair and adorable baby blue eyes. He has his arms wrapped around Kate's waist and he kisses her cheek.

"Hey, babe," he says. Kate giggles and turns to kiss him. It doesn't take me long to notice that Mr. Copper-Haired is standing right beside the blonde.

"Good morning," she says. When she sees the other guy, her smile fades and turns to look at me. "Elliot, this is Ana. She's new."

Elliot smiles and I hold out my hand to him. He takes my hand and pulls me into a tight hug. When he releases me, he smiles and pulls Kate to his side.

"I'm Elliot Grey," he says. He turns to look at his friend. "This quiet fellow beside me is my brother, Christian." I glance at the fine specimen next to Elliot. Christian just looks down at me with molten gray eyes and it takes me a moment to realize that he looks nothing like Elliot.

"Pleasure to meet you, Ana," Christian says and he shakes my hand.

"Y-You too." I blush. Kate rolls her eyes.

"Well we all need to get to class." She leans up and kisses Elliot. "I'll see you later," she says to me with a sweet smile before heading to her class. The rest of us stand there in silence until Ethan nudges my arm and nods toward our English class and I follow him inside. Christian and Elliot follow in behind us. I find seat two over from Ethan and it happens to be right in between Elliot and Christian.

Elliot sits down and immediately turns to face me. "So, what brings you to Redgate?" he asks. He crosses his arms over the back of his chair and rests his chin on them.

"Um..." I try to think of something. "My mom divorced, so I moved here with my step-dad." That wasn't so much of a lie, so I decided to leave it at that and hoped he would, too.

"Ouch, sorry to hear," he says. "Did you just meet Kate?" he asks almost instantly.

I nod.

"What do you think of her?" He smirks.

"Well, I think-" a voice from behind cuts me off.

"Twenty questions at eight-thirty, Elliot?" I slightly turn to see Christian smirking. I look up to see Ethan frowning at me. I shrug. "Don't worry about, Kavanagh," he says, almost sounding annoyed. This time I turn all the way around to see Christian fully.

"Why would you say that?" I ask. Our eyes instantly meet and I'm lost in them. This guy is so beautiful, it should be illegal. His gray eyes burning into mine, it feels almost impossible to look around. His expression remains impassive and he doesn't look away from me. Maybe this game is a stare down.

"Good morning everyone." The teacher, Mrs. Lewis, interrupts us. I quickly turn around in my seat to face the front. I sneak a glance at Ethan and he mouths _'What the hell was that?' _to me. I shrug and try to put all of my attention on the lesson, but with such a beautiful person behind me, so close to me, it's more difficult than I expected.


	3. Chapter 2

Time passed in no time. Before I knew it, it was time for second period. I closed my books and packed my bag before getting to my feet and heading for the door. I went to open it after the girl before me walked out, but before my hand touched the door, Christian was at my side, holding it open for me.

"After you," he says.

I blush and walk out, only to be followed by him. I want to roll my eyes but what's the sense? He's only trying to be nice to the new girl, there' no harm in that. I try to walk a bit faster but Christian keeps close to me, not breaking stride. I see that I have to pass by my locker, so I come up with an excuse to stop.

"Um, I forgot my Chemistry book, so..." I slowly down and stop when I reach my locker. Christian smirks and stops and stands in front of me. Am I missing something here? Are we somehow all of a sudden connected by magnets where we have to stay together?

"Go ahead," he says with a smirk. I hesitate for a moment before dialing in my combo and opening my locker, which unfortunately I had no reason to come to. I look through the small space and try to find something I could use so I don't look like an idiot.

"You didn't forget your book, didn't you?" he asks me. I close my eyes and sigh. I close my locker and turn to look at Christian. "Am I bothering you? If so, you don't need to lie to tell me to go away." He's serious now. Wow, quick change in demeanor. I look down at the floor trying to come up with something to say without feeling like I've hurt his feelings. When I look back up, our eyes meet and I can suddenly feel an electrical current in me. It feels like I'm being pulled to him. And when I look further into his eyes I can see that he's not hurt, but curious.

"I-I'm sorry," I say. And clearly my stutter gives away my nervousness. Damn it.

"Don't be. Just say the words and I'll leave you alone." He throws his hands up in surrender.

Before I can say anything else, Ethan is at my side and Christian's stance gets taller and even more serious. I carefully glance between the two of them, their eyes locked together, glaring at one another. I don't know how long they stay like that, but in the distance I hear a girly voice call for Christian.

"Christian!" That girl from before who looks like me strolls up behind Christian and throws her arm through his. She half smiles at Ethan and frowns when she sees me. Perhaps she confused by our close resemblance. Christian is the first to look away. He leans down and kisses my somewhat doppelganger on the cheek and my heart sinks.

_No, Ana, do not allow those feelings in. You heard what Kate and Ethan said about him. _

But he didn't seem that way to me at all. He seemed friendly and a gentleman.

Ethan nudges my arm and nudges his head to signal that we needed to get going. Christian and who I'm guessing to be his girlfriend have begun conversing, so I sneak around them and follow Ethan to the chem lab.

* * *

"So what's the deal with you and Grey?" Ethan asks as I take notes.

"I don't know. He seemed nice holding the door for me." I continue to write, hoping this conversation was over. But I had to get something clear first. "Who was that girl with him?"

Ethan cocks an eyebrow. "Leila. She's the 'it' girl. Of course she's beautiful, but I think you could give her a run for her money." Ethan blushes and goes back to work. Well that was...sweet. Leila sure is pretty, but I don't think I could out-beauty her. I'm not nearly as groomed as she is. Sure our chestnut hair color is the same, but hers is shorter than mine. Except her eyes are green where as mine are blue. I shake my head, enough with that. _Get back to work, _I internally scold myself.

* * *

Ethan follows me back to my locker. I throw my morning stuff inside and pull out my afternoon material. Ah, history and French.

I close my locker and once again follow Ethan to the cafeteria. It's not that big, but spacious enough to move around in with all of these eight-hundred and fifty students walking around. We find Kate and Elliot sitting at a table near the middle of the room and we make our way through all the people and sit down in the two empty seats.

"Oh good you're here," Kate squeals. I smile and Ethan smirks. The entire time we're eating, Kate walks me through the curriculum that the school offers, she names off the different cliques and tells me how to easily get by every teacher. We're in our eleventh year and she knows this place like the back of her hand.

"So Ana, what do you think of Christian?" Elliot asks me.

Ethan glances over at me curiously.

"Well, um..." _Other than being the most handsome and unfortunately taken human being? _"He seems nice."

Kate furrows her eyebrows and looks at me and Ethan. I shrug and bite into my chicken Caesar salad.

When lunch is over I head to history. I'm near the classroom when Leila steps out from the girls' bathroom and bumps into me. She goes to apologize but is stopped when she gives me a once over. She smirks when our eyes lock. I quickly feel out of place and uncomfortable.

She takes a deep breath. "Just because we may have some similarities in our appearance, doesn't mean he wants you," she says deadpan.

"I-I'm sorry?" _Where is she going with this? _

"Christian? He loves brunette, but I'm not sure you qualify. And even if you did, he wouldn't want you. He has everything he needs in me and that's it." She walks away. I stare after her and my head begins to ache. What the hell is she talking about? I don't want Christian.

_Don't kid yourself._

Okay in all honesty, if I could have him, I'd be more than happy to make him mine, but he's taken and I'm not seeing anyone. As far as experience goes, I prefer to keep my status the way it is.

When I walk into the room I stop dead in my tracks. I look towards the middle of the room and see Christian sitting there texting. _Crap! _Before I can back out he looks up and our eyes lock and I feel that inner pull again. I try to fight it but I'm weak against it. The more I try to fight it, the more intense it gets.

_What am I going to do?_


	4. Chapter 3

I take a seat at an empty desk two over from Christian. I pull out my notebook and my cellphone to occupy myself until the teacher comes in. I begin to feel nervous and slowly turn my eyes in the direction of the handsome guy a few feet away to find that he's already watching me. I quickly turn back to my phone. I hear the screeching of a chair being scraped across the tiled floor of the classroom. I don't bother to look towards the noise. When I hear someone sit down at the desk beside me, I glance over to see Christian Grey. _What the hell?_

"Hello Ana," he says with a smile. I offer him a half smile and turn back to my phone. "I'm sorry about Leila." I look over at him.

"Why are you sorry?" I put my phone away.

"For one, I didn't want to give you the wrong impression. And two, it seemed kind of awkward just having her show up like that."

My brows furrowed together. I don't happen to understand what he's going on about. I look back and start playing with my fingers, hoping the teacher comes in soon. As privileged as I feel for talking to this guy in all his copper-haired glory, it just doesn't feel right at all. And I've already been warned by Leila. _What a charmer._

Suddenly the teacher walks in and I'm grateful for her interference.

* * *

After school I head out to the parking lot towards my car. It's a silver 2005 Toyota Highlander. Ray gave it to me as a birthday/congratulatory gift last year after I got my license. I unlock the vehicle and just as I'm about to open the driver's side door, someone calls out my name.

"Ana!" I turn to see Ethan walking towards me.

"Hey, Ethan." I brush a loose strand of my brown hair behind my ear.

"Hey," he says. "Where are you headed?"

"Home, why?" I blush. _Why am I blushing?_

He smiles. "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out for a bit."

"Um, yeah sure." I smile and my cheeks begin to heat up.

"Great. My sister's got Yearbook Club until six so we have a bit." He smiles and adjusts his bag over his shoulder. I look around the parking lot and towards my car.

"What did you have in mind?" I ask, hoping he already has an idea.

"Well, um...do you like Thomas Hardy?" He looks hopeful.

My eyes widen with surprise. I thought I was the only teenager in this town who enjoyed British Literature. Everyone around here dresses in the highest fashion and they walk around with an I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude, so it was a surprise to hear Ethan ask me that.

"I love Thomas Hardy," I say with a big smile.

He blushes. "Great because the town's library just opened a British section and I wanted to see if you wanted to check it out."

I nod violently and Ethan looks extremely happy.

"Well let's get going. We only have ninety minutes before Kate begins to hunt me down."

He walks around to the passenger side of the car and climbs in. I try to fight the smile that's stuck on my face as I turn to climb in to the drivers' side. When I put on my seat belt I fire up the Highlander and quickly glance out the windshield for a clearing so I could move towards the exit of the lot. But before I start moving I catch a glimpse of gray eyes. That pull forms again and my breath catches in my throat. Christian's gray eyes are murderous, disgusted. Leila is at his side talking to some small blonde girl with a pixie cut and he's completely oblivious when she tries to pull him in.

"Ana?" Ethan calls from beside me and I'm pulled back to focus. I turn to look at him. "Everything okay?"

I nod and put the car in drive and we head towards the library.

* * *

Redgate Public Library isn't that big, but it's a good size to carry enough of everything. I follow Ethan to a section of the place that looks brand new and I catch a glimpse of the sign above: _British_. All of the books are brand new and I'm instantly in my comfort zone. I have always enjoyed the fine writing of Shakespeare, the Bronte sisters, Thomas Hardy and a few others. They're all here, too!

Ethan leads me to a shelf that reads _Thomas Hardy _and I find the complete selection of _Tess and the d'Urbervilles_. They're not first editions, but they're good enough for me. My jaw drops in awe. I look up at Ethan who's looking among the other books.

"Thank you," I say as I pull out _Jane Eyre _from a nearby shelf.

Ethan looks over at me and smiles warmly. "You're welcome. I'm just glad to know someone besides Kate who enjoys a good read." He moves closer to me and my cheeks heat up again. I put the book back and pull down another and examine the cover.

For the next hour and fifteen minutes, Ethan and I sit in the seating area talking about why we like British Lit. and the possibilities of what inspired these amazing writers to author such beautiful stories. We laugh, we space out here and there and we just enjoy ourselves. And I find out that I'm not the only one who's interested in taking a British Lit. class when I go off to college. Apparently Kate has her eyes set on the same thing.

"So do you know where you want to go after high school?" Ethan asks as he skims of the pages of _Romeo and Juliet_.

"I was thinking Washington State."

"No kidding, Kate wants to go there, too." My eyes widen in surprise. Maybe this is God giving me a second chance at happiness. Maybe these are signs that life has its perks after such a shitty one.

"What about you?" I ask.

"I'm thinking of going to Seattle to study psychology." He smiles, obviously proud of himself.

I nod and smile at him.

Another five minutes goes by and Ethan quickly gets to his feet.

"I have to be heading back to school." He turns towards the bookshelves, puts his book back and heads for the door.

"Wait," I say. He turns to look at me. "I-I could drive you."

"It's a short walk, it's no problem."

"I don't mind, really." We smile at each other. Soon a familiar voice comes from beside us.

"Ana," Christian Grey says as he walks up to Ethan and me. I sigh. He turns to Ethan and frowns. "Ethan." He nods.

Ethan returns the nod.

"What are you doing here?" Christian asks me in surprise.

"I, um...Ethan invited to show me the new section of the library." I point towards the British shelves.

He glances at Ethan with disapproval and Ethan seems to return it with no hesitation. Is there something I'm missing? I mean I know Ethan isn't a fan of Christian, neither is Kate, but is there some unknown feud I should know about?

"You like the British works too, eh Kavanagh?" Christian asks.

Ethan crosses his arms.

"Unless it's not the British works you're after." Christian looks down at me, his expression serious.

"Mind your own business, Grey," Ethan warns and gently grabs my elbow to signal me out. I walk out of the library with Ethan at my heels with no more words to or from Christian.

When we get in the car I turn to Ethan.

"What the hell was that?" I ask.

Ethan shakes his head. "Nothing, Ana. Let's just go, please."

"Is there something I need to know about you two? If there's some sort of fight going on between you guys, I want no part of it."

He turns to look at me with warm, kind eyes. "I don't like him and I don't trust him. That's it; there's nothing more to it."

I sigh heavily and buckle up, start the car and we're on en route to the school. I really hope there's nothing more to what's going on with these guys. I just escaped two others back in Seattle, I don't need to face another set.


	5. Chapter 4

I trudge through the front door of the new house and I am so happy to be home. I kick off my black Converse sneakers and head to the kitchen for something to drink.

"Hey Annie," Ray says when I walk into the kitchen. He's standing at the counter, sipping a cup of coffee.

"Hello." I open the fridge and pull out a pitcher of orange juice. I walk towards the cupboard, pull out a glass and fill it and place the pitcher back in the fridge. I take a big sip and I feel so much better.

"Good first day?" Ray asks.

"Sure."

Ray gives me a look. "What happened?"

I sigh and sit down at the kitchen table. He walks over and sits beside me. I break down my whole day, talking about my classes and about Kate and our similar plans for college. I brief him about Ethan and Christian and their small unknown feud.

"You don't want to get in the middle of that." Ray takes a sip of coffee.

"Nope." I take a sip of my juice. God, it's so thirst quenching. "Right now, I just want to focus on graduating high school and moving on. I don't have time for guys, their stupid fights over girls or territory."

Ray smiles. "You've got a good head on your shoulders, kid." He takes my hand and squeezes it.

I smile and stand. I tell Ray I have a bit of homework to do and I'll be back down in a little while to make dinner. He nods and heads into the living room.

* * *

"Where did you learn to cook, Annie?" Ray asks with a mouthful of my homemade Fettuccine Alfredo.

"I spent a great deal of time watching the Food Network." I blush. I spent a large amount of time watching the Food Network back in Seattle because I was planning to move out on my own so I was teaching myself how to cook. That was until I found out Ray was moving away and asked if I wanted to go. Of course I said yes and my mom didn't object. She stayed back to figure her own issues out. I miss her a lot, but I can't go back there. That part of my life is over.

"I'm glad you learned. I'm thirty-two years old and all I can make is toast."

I laugh and take another bite of pasta.

* * *

I get to school the next morning. I open my locker to exchange my material. Before I close my locker, I see Kate walking up to me with a smile still painted on her face.

"Good morning, Ana," she says.

"Good morning." I close my locker and turn to face her.

"I hear Ethan gave you a tour of the library yesterday."

I nod. "He did. And then Christian showed up."

Her face drops a little. "Really?"

"Yeah, it was surprising. But what made it more so was the tension between your brother and Christian."

Kate shifts from foot to foot in obvious uneasiness. Her smile is gone now and she continues to look down at her feet.

"Is there something I should know?" I ask curiously.

She shakes her head.

I give her look. "Please? I want to know if there's something I shouldn't be getting myself into." Kate reaches out and touches my elbow with a kind smile.

"There's nothing to know, Ana."

"Really? Then why don't I believe that?" I step back a little insulted.

Kate sighs and rolls her eyes. "Okay look...A year ago Christian and I got together. We were dating for about three months. Then one day he decides to spring out this idea of trying some-" she waves her hand in the air trying to remember something. "-BDSM relationship."

My eyes widen in shock. _What the fuck?_

"Yeah, I know. I think that's why Leila is with him. Everyone knows she has a history of self harm. Christian wants to experiment with sexual sadism and Leila's willing to give him that." She shrugs.

"So like some Dom/Sub relationship?"

She nods.

"But that doesn't explain the uneasiness between him and Ethan."

She sighs heavily. "Ethan and I are extremely close; if you mess with one of us, you mess with the other. I took offense to Christian's offer and talked to Ethan about it. He got pretty damn pissed." She pushes a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. "Ethan went after him and there was a huge fight."

_A fight? So there was an altercation!_

"Christian and I remain on neutral territory, but I still don't trust him. Ethan seems to think he's attempting to make advances on you."

I shake my head. "He has a girlfriend and I'm not like that."

"I know you're not, but he's one of those people who want something and always get it."

The bell rings and we both jump. Kate and I walk together towards our classes. _Christian and Ethan fighting over a lifestyle Christian wanted to experiment with? _He seems so sweet and friendly. But I guess you can't always believe what you see.

"I'll see you at lunch." Kate hugs me and continues down the hall. I walk into my class and see that Elliot and Christian are already here. I look around for Ethan and find him in the farthest corner of the room. I glance over and Christian finds me. He shifts in his seat and continues his conversation with Elliot. I feel a pang of rejection and make my way towards Ethan. I sit down and he smiles at me.

"Morning," he says.

"Hey," I say impassively. _Should I mention what Kate and I talked about? _I turn around in my seat to face Ethan. "What's going on between you and Christian?" I whisper.

"Nothing, why?"

"Kate told me about your fight with him last year."

He cocks an eyebrow and sits back in his seat. He sighs and sits forward again.

"He wanted to try some stupid shit with my sister and I called him out about it." He shrugs.

"That's it?"

"Do you want all the gory details?" He smirks.

I smile and shake my head. Our teacher comes in a minute later and I open my notebook. The entire class I feel gray eyes watching my every move, and I have to fight really hard not to look in his direction. I can't deny my increasing heartbeat and boiling blood.

* * *

Chemistry came and went and now I'm sitting with Kate, Ethan and Elliot. We're all sitting around the table joking around and cracking each other up. I haven't had this much fun in a long time, it feels so...normal. I feel normal for once. And I feel like I don't have to hide away from these people; it's nice.

* * *

At the end of the day, I walk through the parking lot towards my car and I'm momentarily stopped by Leila. My heart stops and I groan internally.

"What did that Kavanagh bitch tell you about Christian?" she snaps at me.

I frown. "What are you talking about? And her name is Kate." I come to Kate's defense.

"Whatever. I don't know what she told you about her and Christian, but he did not ask her to_ sub_ for him last year." She folds her arms across her chest.

"Honestly, I don't care what happened last year, I wasn't here and it has nothing to do with me." I move to walk around her but she sidesteps and blocks my path.

She cocks an eyebrow. "I think you do care. Do you like him?" she asks suspiciously.

"I don't know him. And I have no interest in dating him, let alone anyone for that matter."

"Liar."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You want to try that again?" Her eyes turn to slits and she smirks.

"There's something I would like try right now but I have far better things to do than waste my time with you." She lets me move around her this time and I finally reach my car. I open the door and climb in, but before I close the door, Christian is beside me, keeping the door open.

"What did she tell you?" he asks nervously.

"Who?"

"You know damn well who. What did she say?"

"Um..." I try to think of something to say to avoid getting Kate into trouble.

"She told her the truth about you, Grey," a voice came from behind Christian. Christian turns and I see Ethan standing there.

"This has nothing to do with you, Kavanagh," Christian growls.

"You're asking about my sister, so it has everything to do with me."

Christian says nothing and turns to me.

"They're lying to you, Ana. I never asked Kate to...sub for me," Christian whispers.

I look down unable to speak. What kind of social society exists in this school. I reach for the handle on the car door and Christian moves. I close the door, start the car and I'm gone. Honestly, what the fuck is with these people?


	6. Chapter 5

It's around seven o'clock the same evening and I'm in my room doing my homework. I just finished having dinner with Ray; my homemade lasagna. Every time I make dinner Ray cannot stop complimenting me on my cooking. I guess it's because he spent quite a bit of time with my mother who, unfortunately, couldn't cook for her life.

I'm taking notes from my history book when there's a knock at my window. I turn around but I can't see the person on the other side of the glass. I slowly climb off my bed and walk across the room. When I get there I see a hooded figure but no face. Suddenly the person lifts up their hood and I immediately recognize Ethan. I sigh and open the window.

"What are you doing here?" I ask leaning on the windowsill.

"What did you say to Leila?" Ethan asks in an accusatory tone.

I frown. "What do you mean? I didn't say anything to Leila; I can barely stand the girl."

"How did she find out about the whole Christian/Kate thing then?"

"I don't know." I shrug. "I don't know anyone else in the school besides you, Kate, Christian, Elliot and sadly Leila."

I step back away from the window because Ethan decided to invite himself into my bedroom. I fold my arms across my chest and just stand there, waiting for Ethan to get this whole thing over with. I don't know how Leila found out about mine and Kate's conversation this morning. Someone she might know might have heard Kate mention something and reported back to her. I'm sure Christian found out from her. He's in denial. _Probably because he's interested in getting in to your pants._

"So," Ethan says when he turns to look at me.

"So." I stand there and narrow my eyes.

Ethan flushes a little. "Do you have any idea how Leila might have found out?" He shoves his hands in his pockets.

"Because she's going around to other girls saying that Kate's jealous of her relationship with Christian. She's calling her desperate and a slut. If she was a guy or I was a chick, I would have decked her by now."

Wow...Ethan and Kate really are close. But then again I guess it's because it's his nature as her older brother. But he almost defends her like a boyfriend or something. It's kind of odd, but I overlook it for now.

"But let's think from another perspective for a minute: if Kate were jealous of Christian and Leila, why make up such a ridiculous story about him being interested in bondage and all that scary crap?"

Ethan shrugs and looks around the room.

"Elliot's pretty pissed about Leila. He's also been trying to talk to Christian about the whole thing."

I shake my head. "Well I don't know who mentioned it to anyone. Maybe Leila has a friend who overheard mine and Kate's conversation and let it slip."

Ethan nods lightly. "Jesus," he says. "Girls fight dirty." He smirks.

I roll my eyes with a smile. "Goodbye Ethan," I say and point to the window.

"Later." He climbs out the window and heads down the street in the direction in which I'm guessing his house is in.

* * *

What I happen to walk into when I get to school the next morning is nothing I ever expected. Christian, Kate and Leila are yelling at each other about who said what. I try to ignore it, but Ethan catches sight of me and beckons me over. I shake my head but he mouths "Now!" to me. I roll my eyes and take a place beside him to see what's going on.

"I never asked you to be a sub for me, Kate," Christian snaps.

"You're going to start denying it because you have a new girlfriend and you're afraid everyone will think you're a creep and a freak?" Kate snaps back. Christian glares down at her and even mad he's beautiful.

"Oh give it up, Kavanagh," Leila chimes in. "You couldn't give Christian what he needed, so he dumped you. And now you're making up some ridiculous story because you're desperate for him." She cocks and eyebrow and smirks.

"I don't want anything to do with him." Kate's voice rises a little.

"You're dating my brother." Christian smirks.

"He has more class," Kate spits at him.

Leila immediately steps in between Kate and her boyfriend and the two girls begin a stare down. _Where the hell are the teachers?_ Christian just stands there with his arms crossed, leaning against the lockers. It doesn't take long for him to notice me and when he does, he straightens up and uncrosses his arms. He looks back to the two girls and acts impassive. Elliot is standing a few students away to my left, waiting for an opportunity to jump in and come to his girlfriend's defense.

"You need to step down and walk away," Leila says through gritted teeth.

"I don't need to do anything," Kate growls. The look in her eyes becomes menacing.

Suddenly Leila's hands come up and shove Kate's shoulders, nearly knocking her off balance. Elliot's about to spring but I get there first. Christian is surprised to see me, but doesn't say anything. I don't know what's come over me. I guess it's partial reflex when Hugh would push my mom or slap her, I would jump in between them. Perhaps that's what I was reliving when I saw Leila assault Kate.

"Stop," I say in a steady voice. I'm not sure how this is going to go, but I'm mentally preparing myself for anything.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to mind your own business?" Leila spits at me.

"She did, only when it didn't concern me."

She scoffs. "Does this concern you?"

"You're messing with my friend, so yes it does." I attempt a hard look and glance directly into her menacing eyes. We stand glaring at each other for God knows how long. But I know I could do this all day if I had to. Hugh has given me plenty of practice for bullies. I think I'm doing just fine.

"Walk away."

"Make me." And before I know it, Leila makes a move to shove me the same way she did Kate, but I'm too quick. I grab her by the wrists, spin her around and throw her forward. Christian catches her and the action is followed by gasps of surprise. Christian turns to me and he eyes me with with shock, but his expression forms into something else. He almost looks...impressed.

The bell rings and everyone scurries to class. The sound of voices escalates. I turn to see Kate standing there with wide eyes. I walk over.

"Are you okay?"

"Ana, that was amazing!" Kate squeals and hugs me. "I could have done without the heroic intervention, but thank you for your help." She smiles and hugs me again. Ethan and Elliot join us. Elliot throws his arm around Kate's shoulders and smiles at me.

"Way to go, new girl." He offers me a high five. I slap our hands together and the couple walks away. Ethan has his brows raised.

"This whole time I thought you were someone who just took shit." He shakes his head. "You proved to be the opposite."

"And you would do well to remember it." I smirk.

Ethan rolls his eyes and shakes head. "It's always the quiet ones." He smirks and we head to English.


	7. Chapter 6

When lunch finally comes around, I decide to skip the socializing today and head out back towards the bleachers by the football field. I walk up the metal stairs and take a seat on one of the metal benches two down from the top. I look through my bag and pull out my most recent read, _Wuthering Heights. _It's a cloudy day in Redgate, but I'm hoping that if there are any plans for rain, I hope it holds off until after lunch.

I don't know how long I'm outside reading for, but it feels like no time at all because when I look at my watch it reads that I have about twenty minutes left for lunch. I continue to read until I hear someone climbing the stairs towards me. I glance up over the top of my book and see Christian Grey. I roll my eyes and continue reading.

"Eye rolling is really impolite, Ana."

I drop the book a little bit and glare at him. "Only my friends call me Ana, thank you." I go back to my book.

Christian moves over and sits beside me.

"So what can I call you?"

"How about you don't call me at all?" I snap not looking away from my book. _Can't this guy take a hint?_

He chuckles. "What are you reading?" I fold the cover of the book enough for him to read it. He leans down a little bit and I can see him nodding a little bit. "_Wuthering Heights_. Good choice," he says. I glance over at the beatiful boy next to me and I can't help but stare. His hair is so shiny and it looks so soft, I'm aching for the need to run my fingers through it. His skin is lacking your normal teenage acne, and I can see his lean muscles through his shirt a little bit. Not to mention that fact that he must be at least six-three? _I like 'em tall. _

"Have you read _Wuthering Heights_?" I ask him harshly.

He looks over at me and smirks. _Oh, that smirk..._

"I have," he says. "I enjoy the fine writings of British Literature." And with that, I'm hooked. Christian Grey? The same guy who enjoys possibly banging a girl who's had it out for me since day and hates on my friend, reads books by British authors? No way, I don't believe it.

"What's your take on it?"

He shrugs. "Very nineteenth century, but very intriguing I'd say."

"Well that's when most of these authors-" I wave my book. "-come from."

He smiles. _No smirk? Well this is about to get interesting_.

"Why did you move here...Anastasia?" _Quick change of topic._ He looks at me, I guess to make sure he got my name right.

I cock an eyebrow. "So you do know my name. And I moved here because I wanted to start fresh." That doesn't give too much away. Our eyes lock and I'm instantly entranced. They're so intense I'm getting goosebumps. Honestly, who or what has been done to the parents of this child to make him so damn beautiful? It should be illegal.

"Or maybe you're trying to escape something." It's not a question. I frown as if he to say he's off, but his eyes tell me that I'm not getting away with that. I pack my book, throw my bag over my shoulder and get to my feet.

"I have to go." I begin to descend the stands by the seats. I don't feel like coming into any closer proximity to Christian Sub-Or-Not Grey. When my feet touch the ground, I begin to walk forward but a hand catches mine and pulls me to a stop. I turn to see Christian towering over me, gazing down at me. He's radiating seduction and I try to pull my hand back, but his grip only tightens.

"Let me go." He still doesn't let go.

"Why are you walking away?" he asks amused.

I stop struggling and sigh heavily. "Because you're girlfriend is a bitch, she hassled my friend and gossiping about her."

He cocks an eyebrow. "Is that it?"

I roll my eyes. "You did nothing to defend her while Leila was pushing buttons. You just went along with it. I don't want to associate with someone who bullies others and doesn't at least try to intervene when someone else does it." His grip loosens and I rip my hand back. I turn on my heel and head back to school. And of course he jogs up beside me and stops me in my path.

"Kate was making trouble for herself."

"Do you expect me to believe that?" I fold my arms across my chest.

"You believed Kate and her stupid brother in an instant and you don't even know them." He frowns and I'm sensing...jealousy? No.

"I don't know you, either," I snap back.

"Would you like to?" he asks. My eyes widen and I take a step back.

He rolls his eyes. "Not like that. I meant do you want to know the real me so you can get a sense of what the truth is?"

"Why am I being brought into the middle of this? I left Seattle to escape family drama, but now I find myself in the middle of someone else's drama."

"I don't know why you're in the middle of it either. I'm sorry they dragged you into this." He looks down and he almost looks sympathetic.

"No you're not," I say harshly again.

"I am. Truly, I am. Look, I don't know what those Kavanagh siblings told you, but I'm not a bad guy." He shoves his hands into his pockets.

"I'd like to figure that out on my own." I walk around him and continue my walk back to the school.

"I'll see you in history!" I hear him call after me. And I think I can hear a smile in his voice.


	8. Chapter 7

"Can you not take a hint?" I ask when Christian tries to continue our conversation from earlier. From the time I walked in he sits down beside me and attempts to steer our very brief 'hello' towards what we talked about at lunch. If I had a good mind to, I'd deck him right here. Did he not apologize for my unnecessary involvement? It seems like he wants to keep me involved.

"I can take a hint, I just want to clear up some things." He leans his chin down on the palm of his hand and looks at me.

"I hardly think this is the time or the place, Christian." And suddenly that pull is there again. That electrical, pulling sensation, and it's really intense this time. I slowly turn to gaze up at him and he's smiling at me in a way that's almost seductive. I fight the urge to give in to it because if I do, I know I will lose all sense of control and drop my panties and jumps this guy here in the classroom.

"We could always..." He pauses for a dramatic pause. "Skip."

I scoff. "Enjoy." I quickly open my notebook and look through my notes before the teacher shows up.

Christian groans and swipes my notebook from my desk and picks up my backpack before moving towards the door. When he gets there he turns around to look at me. For a minute I stare at him with obvious shock, but I decide to just sit back in my chair, fold my arms across my chest and just look at him. He looks at me as if he was expecting me to follow him right away to try and get my stuff back. He's trying but I'm not buying it.

"Are you coming?" he whispers.

I shake my head.

"You're kidding me, right?" He rolls his eyes and sighs, making his exasperation known.

"You're the one who stole my things and raced for the door. If you think I'm going to follow you just like that, you've got another thing coming."

"Do you want to know the _real _Katherine Kavanagh?"He cocks an eyebrow.

"Right now I want to know the _real _reason as to why you care so much about what I think," I say before cocking an eyebrow.

He sighs and trudges back to his desk before handing over my bag and notes. I set them all aside and look at him, waiting for him to start talking.

"I like you," he whispers.

"Awww, I like me, too," I say mockingly and place my hands over my chest.

He shakes his head. "No, I mean I really like you."

_Seriously? _The most beautiful man I have ever laid eyes on in my entire life has admitted that he likes..._me_? This whole scenario is doing things to me and I have to fight hard not to act on any of those things. I can't be romantically involved with anyone; not so soon.

"Oh, um...thank you." I put my head down and face the front of the room. Gratefully within seconds, the teacher walks in. I hear Christian sigh and turn in his seat.

* * *

I get home, thankfully without another interruption in the parking lot. A lot of things seem to go down in that parking lot. I think I've had my few tastes of what it means when someone says "take it outside".

"Annie?" Ray calls from the living room.

"It's me!" I call back. I take my shoes off-to major relief-and head to the living room and crash down on it beside Ray. He looks over at me and frowns.

"Rough day?" He takes a sip of beer.

"You could say that," I say in a tired voice.

"Tell me all about it, kiddo."

I explain my whole day to Ray. I hesitate about telling him about defending Kate and launching Leila at Christian, but I want to see Ray's reaction. He is the one who taught me how to defend myself when he first started figuring out what was happening between my old boyfriend and my mom's most recent ex-husband.

"So this Christian boy likes you. What's the problem?" Ray asks when I finish talking.

"Uh, one: he's in a relationship. And two: it's almost like he wants to keep my involved in his drama between him and Kate, but I want nothing of it," I say before I groan in frustration. I jump to my feet and head to the kitchen to make dinner.

"Don't worry about dinner tonight. I thought I'd order a pizza to give you a break tonight." _Aw Ray, so thoughtful. But what am I going to do to keep me busy until dinner? _

* * *

Dinner came and went. I grab my books and head up to my room to start my homework. English, history and chemistry. I guess if I concentrate hard enough, I could get my work done quicker. I mean I love to stay busy, but not if it's almost impossible to focus because of all the shit that's going on around me. _Well you know what they say: when one door closes, another one opens. _Yeah to someone else's drama!

When I finish my homework I head to the bathroom to have a shower, dress into my pajamas and climb into bed. I turn off my bedside lamp and settle under the duvet. Just as I'm about to fall asleep, I hear a knock at my window. I try to ignore it and focus on trying to sleep. It comes again. I groan and climb out of bed and go to the window. I slide it up and look out. It's nothing but trees and darkness around the backyard. Suddenly a hand comes out of nowhere and clamps over my mouth. I scream and a voice comes through the shadows.

"Shh, it's me," the voice whispers and I immediately know who it is.

I pull back. "Christian?"

"Surprise." I walk over and turn on my lamp and I can see him a bit better. "May I come in?" he asks innocently.

"No. Yes. No. Ugh, fine." I sit down on my bed and watch as he gracefully climbs in through the window. He must have done this many times to other girls.

He stands up straight. "So," he says.

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you." He looks around my room and eyes my desk chair. "May I sit?" I nod. He walks over and turns the chair around and sits down. We're now looking at each other and for some reason, I feel strangely at ease.

"What are you doing here?" I ask again.

"Again, I wanted to see you."

I give him a look. "Then why do I feel like there's more to this then you're letting on?"

He leans forward so his forearms are resting on his knees and he sighs.

"Look Ana..." He runs his a hand over the back of his neck. "I've never done this before." He chuckles.

"Done what?" I'm confused. He begins to shake his leg and I just sit there impatiently, waiting for him to spit out whatever he needs to.

"Usually when I like someone, I don't have to explain it to them. I tell them I like them and they're all over me like wallpaper."

I frown. _Is that such a surprise?_

"But with you, I have to explain to you what it is that I feel and-" I cut him off.

"You don't have to explain anything to me," I say and lean back on my elbows. I realize that I'm in a sensual position and decide to play with him. I may not want anything romantic-_Bullshit! You've wanted romance since you laid eyes on this guy._

This is true. But I can't just let everything I've thought just fade away. I had a bad past relationship and I'm not willing to open myself up that easily again.

"Yes I do." Our eyes meet and I'm stunned. What is it about this guy that causes all of these weird things to happen when we look at each other? "I feel things for you that make it almost impossible to explain. With other girls it comes naturally. I've had girls want me since I was ten years old."

Still leaning on my elbows, I pull my knees up but I can still see him. His eyes harden and his pupils dilate. Oh, I am getting to him.

"What are you doing?" He cocks an eyebrow.

"Nothing. Keep going." And before I know it, he's on his feet and slowly walking towards me. He's at my feet and he places his hands on my knees. When our skin makes contact and we both gasp. The electricity is even more intense than ever and I'm instantly turned on. _Holy shit..._

"Do you feel that?" Christian whispers.

I nod.

I gasp. Christian quickly separates my knees and climbs the bed until his body is covering mine. He's looking down at me with intense, arousing, molten gray eyes. He swoops down and catches my lips with his. I try to fight the moan, but it escapes me. Christian's hand travels from my knee, up my thigh and stops to rest on my hip. I can't do this, but I can't resist either. My hips betray me and begin to move against his. I soon feel his rock hard arousal through his jeans and it feels _big_.

Christian is the first to pull away. "Ana," he breathes.

I'm trying to catch my breath. "Wow," I whisper, but it was mostly meant to be silent. He runs the tip of his nose against mine and smiles. I force a smile, still trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

"You've bewitched me," he breathes again. Bewitched? Not something most high school students say. _Well he doesn't seem like most high school students, does he? _"I guess that says enough about how I feel about you."

_What? _After a kiss? ONE make-out session and he's declared his love for me?

"I'll see you tomorrow." And with easy grace he leans back and gets to his feet. He straightens his sweater and heads for the window. But before he slips out, he comes back, kisses me one more time and leaves without another word.


	9. Chapter 8

Well it's finally Friday. I'd be more excited if I actually had something to do this weekend. I'd be up for just about anything if I wasn't subjected to doing it alone. My first weekend in Redgate and I'm more than like stuck doing homework, sleeping and chatting up with Ray, who may I add is a very taciturn man. Although I was surprised the other day when he asked about my day.

I walk through the front doors of the school and everyone turns to look at me. Immediately there are gasps and whispers while people stare at me. I look around and not one person stops. What the hell is going on? I carefully head in the direction of my locker and on my way, I bump into Ethan who looks murderous at me.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he snaps at me. I'm taken aback. What the hell did I do?

"W-What are you talking about, Ethan?"

"You're with Christian now?"

"What? No. Who-" He cuts me off.

"It's all over school. Kate is heartbroken and shocked that you would betray us by going out with..._him_." He shoves his hands in his pockets, but his expression doesn't soften.

"Ethan, I-" He cuts me off again.

"I should have known. You're just like any other girl in this town. You walk around like you don't have a care in the world and as soon as that bastard lays on you, everything matters." He shakes his head.

"I-" He cuts me off again. What the hell?

"Just because he's the ideal boyfriend doesn't mean he has to be the only one, Ana."

I roll my eyes. _That's it!_ "Would you just shut up and let me talk?" I snap and Ethan's eyes widen with surprise. "Okay, I am not with anyone. I'm not with Christian, I'm not with you and I'm not with Jim Morrison., okay? No one!" I take a deep breath.

He frowns. "What?"

"I am not with Christian Grey." I raise my voice so everyone around me can hear. I look around and everyone is watching me.

"Everyone else seems to think so," Ethan says looking around.

"So you have to go along with it?" I scoff. "And you think I'm like everyone else? Listen to yourself, Ethan. You're like every other typical teenager who listens to the first thing that comes out of someone else's mouth without asking the person who was actually there about what happened." I'm breathing heavily. Boy am I getting worked up. Ethan just stands there and looks at me with wide eyes. I walk around him and head to my locker. I dial the combo, open it and throw everything in and take some of it out.

"Hey," Christian says as he gets closer to me. I don't even acknowledge him. "Okay...is everything alright?"

I stay silent.

"Ana?" I shut my locker and spin to face him.

"I'm fine, Christian," I snap louder than expected.

He smirks. "Good." He moves in to kiss me and I take a step back. "What?" he asks confused.

"What are you doing?"

"Can I not kiss my own girlfriend?" He frowns in confusion.

"Girlfriend? I am not your girlfriend, Christian. You have one, okay? Her name is Leila." I move to walk around him but he sticks a hand out to stop me.

"What about last night?" he whispers.

"What about it?" _Oh yes...the kiss. That wanting, sensual kiss. _I'm turned on just remembering it all from the other night. _No! Stay focused Ana, you cannot let this happen again_. I move to keep going but he steps into my path this time.

"Well, I thought it meant..." he trails off and he shrugs.

I sigh. If I'm going to get this done and other with, I have to tell it like it is. _But it's not how it is. You want him and you know it! _God, I'm getting a headache just trying to work through my scrambled thoughts.

"It meant nothing. Okay, you came into my room and we kissed a little." I walk around him and stop quickly to turn and face him. God this is painful, but it has to be done. "And for the record-" I gulp and I hesitate for a moment. Do I really want to let this guy go? He's the most beautiful person you've ever seen and he wants you. No...I can't let this happen again. Ugh, but if I don't I'll be stuck with my thoughts for the rest of my life and look how well that's going for me.

Christian is just standing there waiting for me to continue. He looks so shocked and hurt at the same time, it's killing me. I decide to just shut my mouth, turn around and keep walking.

* * *

I don't see Ethan in English or Chemistry and frankly I'm kind of glad. If he was in class this morning after our dispute, I might have grilled him a new.

When lunch comes around I head outside to the bleachers to continue my reading. The sun is out, it's warmer today and the sun is in a good spot in the sky. I'm about halfway to the stands when Elliot steps in my path. _Oh, what now? _I growl internally. Although Elliot doesn't look upset or anything, he looks...concerned.

"What's going on between you and Christian?" he asks softly.

I shrug.

"Come on, Ana, something has to be going on with you two."

"Oh Elliot, I am not in the mood for discussing this right now. I've already been down this ladder this morning with Ethan and God only know what Kate's thinking-"

"Stop." He holds his hand up. "Kate's fine, she doesn't have anything to say about it."

This came as a shock. "Then why are you here?"

He sighs. "Christian's upset," he says.

I'm taken aback. Christian Grey is upset? Ever since I set eyes on him he's been nothing but cool, calm, and collected. Maybe a little narcissistic, but still. But then I picture the thought of that copper haired, gray eyed, beautiful person and my heart sinks. I remember the look on his face before I left him in the hallway this morning. He showed up to class after I got there without even a slight glance in my direction.

"What does he have to be upset about?" I try to hide the concern in my voice. I don't want Elliot to think that I might actually care because then he'll begin to think that maybe there is something going between his brother and me.

"You."

"Me?" I feel my eyes widen.

"Yes, you. He told me about what happened between you two last night and I had never seen him so happy about kissing a girl before. And he's had many girlfriends before."

I nod with a sarcastic look of interest. "Yeah, I believe that."

"Did you say anything to him to upset him?"

"All I said was that I wasn't like most girls who trip over their own feet to be with him."

He nods considering my response. "I see."

I sigh. Maybe I should tell him why I said that to his brother.

"Elliot?" He looks up at me. "If I tell you something, will you promise to keep it to yourself no matter who wants to know?" I know I shouldn't ask such a thing after what happened with Kate, Christian and considering I barely know him.

He nods. "Yeah."

We walk to the stands and sit down next to each other. I take a deep, unsteady breath before I begin.

"The reason I'm not interested in Christian-well I am, but it's complicated, which is why I'm telling you this. But, the reason I said what I said is because I have...trust issues."

He cocks an eyebrow in confusion. "Trust issues?"

"With men." I look around the grounds nervously. The grass is still a bit green and slightly damp and the sun is shining on the bricks of the school to make the color a little more dramatic. It's kind of pretty.

He signals me to continue.

"Last year, my mom re-married. Hugh. He seemed really nice at first, until he started getting comfortable." I look down at my hands. "About six months after they got married, he began spending money my mom didn't have. When I was working, my mom had to keep borrowing my paychecks just to keep ourselves fed and keep the bills up."

"That's gotta be tough," he comments.

I nod and continue. "About nine months after the wedding, Hugh began to make a habit of coming home drunk or doped up on coke or something. When he did, he started accusing my mother of not looking after him. When she began to argue he would hit her until she nearly passed out."

Elliot's eyes widened in shock, almost as if he had never heard of a man hitting a woman before. Perhaps I should look up the statistics of Women Abuse in the USA if that's the case. I clear my throat and continue.

"And then there was Bradly. We were good friends in the ninth grade and began dating a short time after my mom and Hugh got married. We were happy. We were happy until Bradly decided to try and make a good impression on his new friends..." I trail off, not sure if I want to go on.

"If it's too much to talk about Ana-"

"No no, I'm fine...really." I swipe a strand of loose hair behind my hair, feeling tears prick my eyes. "One night we were at a party and his buddies were there. We were all joking around, having a few drinks here and there and then that's when Bradly decided to pounce."

"He didn't," Elliot growled in disgust.

A tear escaped my eye. "He did." I wipe my cheek. "And just like that, I lost all hope in men. I can be their friend, but nothing more than that."

Elliot grasps my hand. "Ana, I am so sorry you had to go through that." He looks down. "What am I going to tell Christian?" He says it to himself but I offer up the best idea I can.

"Just tell him I'm going through a bad break up and I need time."

He nods.

"Thank you, Elliot." I smile. "I can see why Kate likes you so much."

He smiles. "I love her, no matter where she comes from or where's been. Her past lead her to me and I couldn't be happier."

"How long have you two been together?" I ask, feeling a bit better.

"Since the seventh grade, so...four years." He smiles just mentioning it.

"You two look so happy together."

"We are."

We sit in silence for a little while until I decided to get bold about my next question.

"Did Kate make up what she said about Christian being interested that whole BDSM crap?" I ask in a way that I'm obviously expecting him to lash out for even thinking of such a thing.

"All I'm going to say is that he was interested, but he never went for it."

"So he never asked her to sub for him?"

Elliot shakes his head.

"Why would she make up such a thing?" I ask in shock.

Elliot shrugs. "She was in love with him for a time. So she was either angry or confused as to why he was into that type of thing." I just look at him. "Ana, I know Christian better than anyone, maybe even better than he knows himself. And believe me when I say that I have never seen him look at a girl the way he looks at you." And with that, without another word, Elliot stands and heads back to the school.

This has given me quite a bit to think about.


	10. Chapter 9

After school I decided to take a drive over to the library and headed straight for the British section. I grabbed a copy of _Oliver Twist _by Charles Dickens. I move around the shelves and take a seat in one of cushioned armchairs and begin scanning through the chapters. I must have read this book about one hundred times, I could probably memorize it word for word without even looking.

I reach the third chapter when I sense someone in front of me. I peak over the top of the book and find Christian sitting in the chair across from me. He looks sad and I'm stunned. _How did he know I would be here?_ He could have followed me...

"Hi," he says.

"Hi," I say and close the book, setting it down on my lap.

"Can we talk?"

"About?" I'm not playing stupid, I just don't really have anything to say to the guy.

"Last night," he mutters.

"What's there to talk about, Christian? It seems you've already talked to the whole school about it already." I shrug and sink back into the chair.

He sighs. "I didn't mean for everyone to find out, Ana." _Oh the way he says my name..._

"I did tell one person and I guess she decided to go around and spread it." He frowns and looks down as if in shame.

"Leila?" I say. _Of course she'd be my first choice. _

He nods.

_Oh shit._

"She's been my girlfriend for a while and I had no reason to do what I did with you."

I look down feeling rejected.

"Then I guess you should have thought about that before you decided to kiss me," I say in a sad tone.

"That's the thing, Ana...I wanted to." I look up and our eyes meet. "When I'm around you, it's like nothing and no one else matters. You make me feel things that even Leila or Kate couldn't make me feel."

My eyes widen. This is news to me.

"I-" he cuts me off.

"Let me finish, please." I close my mouth and he takes a deep breath. "I don't know what it is about you, Ana, but I like you so much, I'm willing to do anything and everything for you. I want to show you things that you've never seen before. If you give me the chance-"

I hold my hand up to stop him. "Christian it's a long story, but I don't think we can be together."

"Why?" he asks me in a voice that sounds as if I've told him that his mother died. _Chill_.

"Again, it's a long story. I just can't." I jump to my feet, the book dropping to the floor and rush to leave but Christian grabs my wrist.

"Why don't you like me, Ana?" he asks in his sad voice again.

I sigh. "Honestly Christian, I do like you. I like you so much it frightens me, but I can't tell you why we can't be together."

"Tell me," he says, his eyes are begging.

"It's complicated."

"I can keep up," he says as if I've insulted him.

Oh, what am I going to do about him? Should I tell him? _No! It's not the right time and you want to be able to trust him first. You've already said enough to Elliot_. That's it! Elliot can tell him. But is that such a good idea? Who knows how Christian will react? I don't want to burden him with my shitty relationship past.

"Please, Ana?" he whispers.

I sigh. "Talk to Elliot." And with that, I turn around and leave the library.

* * *

I got home and went straight to my room. Ray wasn't home so I suppose he won't be back for a while; it is Friday after all. When I get to my bedroom, I throw my bag on my bed and fire up my new laptop. Ray got it for me before we moved to Redgate. I open my e-mail and find one from Kate. How did she get my e-mail? I open it up and read.

_**From: Katherine Kavanagh  
To: Anastasia Steele  
Date: October 25, 2013**_

_Ana,_

_I just wanted you to know that I talked to Elliot this evening. Whatever is going on between you and Christian, it's okay. I just want you to be careful._

_Believe me, Kate, you don't have to tell me twice._

I decided to get my homework done and out of the way. It's not like I have anything better to do.

I have been working on my history homework for about an hour and a half and back begins to hurt and I need to stretch my legs, I've been sitting down for too long. I slowly get to my feet and head down to the kitchen for a drink. I grab a glass and pour myself some water. I take a sip. _Mm, that's better_.

I head back up to my bedroom to see an e-mail had popped up while I was away. I sit down and see to it.

_**From: Christian Grey  
****To: Anastasia Steele  
****Date: October 25, 2013**_

_Anastasia, I spoke to Elliot and he told me everything._

I stop there for a moment. Before I continue to read the e-mail, I need to make sure I'm ready to accept the fact that Christian Grey may not be so accepting of my past with Bradly. Who knows? I continue:

_I am so sorry about your relationship with that asshole. If I ever had the chance to see him once I would make him pay for forcing his hand on you. I'm here if you ever need to talk to someone. Besides my brother._

I could imagine the uneasiness when he wrote that last part. I would talk to him, but I'm just not sure how much he could handle and how much he could keep to himself. I mean it's bad enough that I suggested him talk to Elliot about my boy issues. I want Christian Grey to understand that I want to be with him, but it's a difficult limit for me.

_**From: Anastasia Steele  
**_**_To: Christian Grey  
_****_Date: October 25, 2013_**

_Thank you for offering to listen, but I don't think it's necessary. I have some things I need to work through and I don't want you in the middle of it. _

I click "send" and start on my chemistry notes.

* * *

I must have fallen asleep while working because I can feel someone laying me down on my bed. When I'm comfortable the person then unbuttons my jeans and slowly begins to pull them down my legs. I hastily jump up and sit back against my headboard, pulling my knees up to my chest. It's dark because whoever is laying me to bed must have turned it out before moving me.

"Who's there?" I whisper nervously.

Silence.

"Hello?" I whisper again.

"It's me." Immediately I relax and squint to see a better outline of Christian. It's too dark and the curtains are drawn.

"What are you doing here?" I can't hide the relief and minor nervousness in my voice.

"I needed to see you," he whispers.

"Well you can't quite do that in the dark now, can you?" I ask trying to sound exasperated. A second later my bedside lamp is switched on and I'm momentarily blinded by the light. When my eyes adjust to the brightness I see Christian sitting on my bed, eyeing me nervously.

"Hi," he says.

"Hi."

"Why didn't you tell me about what happened before you moved here, Ana?" Christian asks disapprovingly.

"That's not exactly something I'd care to advertise around a new neighborhood where no one knows you."

Christian looks down at his hands.

"Did you tell everyone that we were together?" I ask before I think about it. Christian looks at me with confusion.

"No, why?"

"Because every person at school seems to think so. And you and me are the only ones who know what happened the other night." I get to my feet and kick off my jeans, not really caring that Christian can see my underwear. I hear his sharp intake of breath and suddenly feel satisfied with myself.

_Focus! _I scold myself.

"Well I didn't say a word. What I do outside of school is no one else's business but mine and whoever else is involved."

I slip on a pair of pajama shorts and turn to face him. Our eyes meet and I can immediately see in them that he's not bullshitting me.

"Maybe someone was watching us?" he offers.

I run my hands through my hair in confusion. "I don't know, Christian." I look at the clock. "It's late and I'm tired."

Christian stands and walks towards me. "Can I stay?"

I look at him with wide eyes. "I'm sorry?"

"Can I stay the night, Ana?"

"N-No," I say. "Why? I add.

"I want to be near you. I want to make sure that you're safe, Ana," he whispers as he traces his thumb over my cheek. I melt at his touch. Oh no.

"Yes."

He smiles and moves out of my way. I stare at him confused.

"I thought you said you were tired."

"I...I am," I say.

He motions towards the bed. "So let's go to sleep."

No. I'm not doing anything or going anywhere until I get some damn answers.

"You said someone might have been watching us, which may have lead to the rumors about us," I mention. He nods. "What would make you think that?"

Christian sighs and shoves his hands in his pockets. He turns and walks towards my bed and sits down, staring at the floor. I slowly make my way over and sit down next to him. He's radiating tension and nervousness. We sit there for a while in silence until he finally speaks.

"Leila and Kate have had it out for a long time," he starts. "They have always been competitive. Leila always got what she wanted by default, but Kate always tried to find something she was better at."

_Whoa, Kate competitive? She hardly seems like the type. _

"I met Leila first, but she seemed to open with herself and it was a major turn-off. So Kate and I started dating." I feel a pang of jealousy at the thought of Christian and Kate together.

"I'm not exactly sure where this is going." I rub my forehead because my head is starting to ache a little.

He sighs and goes on. "The point of this is that Kate became possessive of me over time. She made up the BDSM and sub crap to keep other girls away. I know this because it's not the first stunt she's pulled."

I look down at my fingers. Soon, Christian slips his hand in mine and entwines our fingers. I look up into his eyes and he slowly leans in and kisses me. The feeling I get from our sudden, intimate contact has me kissing him back. _Kissing isn't so much of an issue. Is it? _He cups my face and deepens the kiss, igniting a moan deep in his throat.

"You are so sweet," he whispers against my lips. I moan at this words and I can feel his smile forming as he continues to kiss me.

We spend the rest of the night embracing each other. If I had to be honest...I have never felt safer until now.


	11. Chapter 10

I wake up the next morning feeling refreshed and well rested. But my bliss is short-lived when I find my arm wrapped around Christian's waist and his arm is cuddling with mine. He's facing me and he is such a sight to see. I slowly pull my arm away through his so I don't wake him up. When my arm is almost unwrapped, Christian's hand quickly reaches up and clasps my wrist, halting it. I gasp and his eyes open. He smirks at me but I can't return it because my heart is still beating too quickly to respond in any way.

"Good morning," he says in a velvet-soft voice. The softness of it wraps around me and I'm suddenly calm.

"Good morning," I say back, not being able to help my smile.

"Sleep well?"

"Yes, you?"

"I was with you all night, so yes I did." He smiles a warm, sweet smile and I melt. He really is beautiful and such a decent person but I have to remember that there's Leila, too. God only knows what's going on in her head because I'm sure she's heard the whole thing about Christian and me.

"Is everything okay?" he asks concerned.

I nod and sit up, leaning back against the headboard. I look down at myself, relieved that I am still dressed. The whole night we spent kissing and touching, sex was tempting but we didn't do it. Sex is off the table for a long time. Christian leans up and rests his head on his hand which is supported by his elbow. He's in nothing but jeans. His torso is amazingly lean and toned, it's mouthwatering.

"Are you okay?" He reaches out and clasps my hand, gently stroking my knuckles with his thumb.

"I'm fine. It's just that last night..." I trail off at a loss for words.

"It was amazing for me, too, Ana," he whispers with a smile. His gray eyes dancing with light and amusement.

I wanted to say that it was amazing for me, but truthfully I'm just not sure. I mean, Christian is an amazing kisser and he really knows how to make a girl feel wanted. But is that all I am to him? A girl?

I don't want him to just sneak into my room and kiss and stroke me to sleep while whispering sweet words and then just get up and leave. If that's his next move, I might as well assist him and walk over and open up the window for him.

"What is it?" he asks concerned again. My expression must be mirroring my thoughts.

"N-Nothing," I lie.

Christian cocks an eyebrow and the look in his eyes tells me that he's not buying it.

I sigh. "How do I know that you're not just going to leave?"

"What do you mean?" He frowns.

"I mean..." I get to my feet and begin pacing. "How do I know that you won't just get up and leave and forget about me after enjoying your fill of me?" I'm almost shouting. I don't mean to raise my voice, but letting people in is not something I can just do.

Christian gets to his feet and walks around the bed until he's standing in front of me. My breath hitches because the look on his face is serious.

"From the moment I laid eyes on you, Ana, I had to have you."

"What about Leila?" I ask.

"She's just someone I kept around to ease the competition between her and Kate." He shrugs not caring. "Right now, I want you. I want to be with you. Please let me," he whispers the last part. I look down at the floor and his tilts my head back until our eyes meet.

"I don't want to let you slip away from me."

I finally begin to breathe again and my heart is beating like crazy and my stomach is doing somersaults. This is something I have been trying to avoid since I left Seattle. But with Christian, it's impossible.

"I-I don't know, Christian," I say and turn my back to him. I fold my arms across my chest trying to gather my thoughts. Suddenly I feel warm, strong arms wrap around my waist and gently pull me back against a bare chest.

Christian leans down until his lips are brushing against my ear. "Let me show you how much you mean to me."

Tears begin to pool in my eyes and I turn back to face him. I nod and he wipes away my tears with his thumb. He leans down and catches my lips with his own. They're sweet, soft and gentle. I'm a little hesitant to kiss back until I feel his arms tighten around me. My right hand reaches up and cups his cheek when I begin to kiss back.

Christian picks me up and leads us back to the bed. He gently lays me down and hovers above me as he takes his time to look over my body. I'm in my pajama bottoms and a spaghetti strap tank top.

"Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?" he whispers to me. I shake my head before he leans back down to kiss me again. He begins to rock his hips against mine and I moan.

Before I know it, my hands fly up and push at his shoulders, pushing him off me.

"What's wrong?" Christian asks.

I sit up. "I...I don't think I can do this."

"Is this about Bradly?" he asks bluntly. But I nod because I haven't had any sexual contact since that night he took advantage of me in front of his friends.

I nod and tears begin to form.

"Hey," Christian whispers and cups my cheek. "If you're still not comfortable, we don't have to do anything."

I look up into his eyes and smile. This smile is more genuine and real than any other time I've smiled. What is it about this guy that is making me feel things that no one else could? All of my feelings are spilling through the dam and he hardly had to try.

"I just can't do it. Not right now."

"That's okay. We'll work on it. Just as long as you can give me one thing." His eyes are filled with lust and care.

"What?"

"You," he whispers.

I frown. "Me?"

He nods. "I want you any way I can get you. I don't want anyone else; only you."

I sniff and nod.

Christian smiles big and pulls me into his strong arms and kisses my hair.

* * *

Ray isn't home when Christian and I sneak our way downstairs. I guess he found some new fishing buddies since his old ones are hundreds of miles away. I call out his name just to be sure. Nothing. I then normally make my way to the kitchen and open the fridge for some orange juice. I offer some to Christian but he claims it's too acidic for his liking. I offer him coffee, tea and water, but he doesn't want anything.

"Are you hungry?" I ask him.

He nods.

"Eggs and bacon okay with you?"

He nods.

"What the hell happened? First it was you trying to get me to talk and now you've fallen silent." I rummage through the fridge for our breakfast.

He shrugs. "I'm just enjoying looking at you, I guess."

I blush.

I pull out the frying pan, I set it on the stove, turn on the burner and pour in a small amount of oil. When there's enough heat coming through the pan, I crack open a few eggs.

"So what are you going to do about Leila?" I ask before I can stop myself. I don't really want to know because it's none of my business, but at the same time I can't help my curiosity.

He sighs. "I don't know, tell her the truth, I guess."

"I'm sorry," I say as I flip the eggs.

"What for?" He looks at me quizzically.

"About all this," I say waving the spatula around. I feel bad that I possibly ruined the relationship between Leila and Christian. But if I had to be honest, I couldn't be happier, either. _  
_

_Don't feel bad, he's already told you how he really feels about her. _

"Are you alright?" Christian asks pulling me out of my reverie.

I nod and set the eggs on our plates before starting on the bacon.

"You don't look okay." He moves around and stands beside me by the stove.

"Really Christian, I'm fine." I don't look at him.

He cups my cheek with his hand and guides my gaze to meet his. Gorgeous, molten gray eyes meeting baby blue ones. After everything I've been through in the last year, how did I get so lucky?

"You did absolutely nothing wrong, Ana, do you hear me?" he asks. I'm not sure I do, but I nod anyway.

"Good, because you mean a lot to me." He leans in and kisses me softly. Memories of last night come back to me. His hands finding their way all over my body, his lips nibbling, sucking and trailing along my skin. Oh, what a night.

"Everything will be okay," he says with a reassuring smile. And just like that I'm feeling a lot better.


	12. Chapter 11

Christian left after breakfast because it was the one day he got to spend with his entire family without the interruptions from school and Leila. I always wondered what it felt like to spend your day with your family. A perfect family that didn't involve death, infidelity or lack of love. My dad died, my mom continued to re-marry even if she wasn't happy, and I was stuck with my step-father who was so taciturn, you'd think he was a mute. Not that it was so bad; Ray's never had kids of his own and then he just marries my mother who already has a teenage daughter. But he tries, and that's all I can ask for.

It's a nice, warm, sunny day today and I decide to go for a walk. Halloween's coming up so I decide to stop by a few stores and check out some costume options. Not one store had anything that I would like. All of the costumes were for women who might as well wear only their underwear instead of wearing less clothing.

I'm on my way down Sylvester Avenue when I bump into someone. She drops her shopping bag and I quickly bend down to pick it up.

"I am sorry," I say as I pick up the woman's dropped items. She must be going all out for Halloween because she bought a Naughty Witch costume, a black diamond bracelet and shiny black open-toed pumps with straps that wrap around your ankles.

"Don't worry," a familiar voice says. I look up and there stands Leila. "It's nice having someone pick up my stuff for a change." She's not smiling. I hand her her bag, she swipes it from my hand and pushes by me. _What a bitch_. I turn and continue on my way down the quiet street until I bump into a familiar blond.

"Jesus!" Ethan yells irritated. When he turns to see me, he turns red. "Ana! Shit. I'm sorry."

I hold up my hand and move around him to keep walk.

"No, Ana. Wait," he calls. I stop and turn to face him. He sighs. "Look, I'm really sorry about how I reacted to the rumor about you and Grey being together."

"I wish you would have asked me first," I snap. _Why shouldn't he deserve that after how he treated me the other day?_

"I know I should have. I screwed up. I'm sorry," he mutters and looks down.

I reach out and touch his elbow to know that he's forgiven. I understand for him getting mad about Christian hitting on the new girl, but his sister was with him in the past and he supposedly treated her unfairly. He was only looking out for her.

"So it's not true?" he asks hopefully.

"Is what not true?"

"You and Christian."

I look down at my feet, not sure of what to say.

"It is," he assumes. He sighs heavily and glares at me.

"Don't you dare look at me like that, Ethan," I warn him.

"Why?" he snaps.

"You've already apologized to me and I've already forgiven you. The next time you snap, I may not feel so generous."

He shifts from foot to foot and is immediately calm. We stay quiet until Ethan decides to break it. I'm relieved that I don't have to diminish the awkward silence.

"So are you going to Jose's party tonight?" he asks innocently.

"Who?"

"Jose Rodriguez? You haven't met him?" He looks quizzically at me.

"N-No. Must I?"

He shrugs. "I just asked, Ana. He throws really awesome parties."

"Okay...why do you ask?"

He shrugs again. "I just thought if you were we could, you know...go together?" I think about the idea for a minute. I wonder if this Jose guy throws parties cool enough for Christian Grey to attend. I guess it wouldn't hurt to find out.

"Will Christian be there?" I ask. Ethan's eyes darken at the mention of the possibility of Christian being there.

"I don't know. If he does I've never seen him. Why, were you planning on going with him?"

"If he's going, maybe."

Ethan takes a step back and frowns. "So I'm just a back up in case Mr. Pretty Boy decides not to attend?" he snaps. _Holy shit, what is with this kid?_

"No!" I snap back. I rub my temples, feeling a headache coming on. This guy is becoming too much.

"Please, Ana. I've never gone with anyone before, much less a girl."

Ethan's statement makes me feel bad for him. How could he not have ever taken a girl before? He's a total catch. I sigh and glance at the sidewalk for a moment before looking back at him.

I roll my eyes. _Why not?_

"Sure, what the hell."

"Yes!" he exclaims and quickly composes himself. "I mean...cool." He smiles shyly and turns and continues walking.

* * *

It's around six o'clock and Ray is upstairs napping while I make dinner. I decide on chicken-fried steak and salad with shrimp in it. Ray loves steak, so I shouldn't hear any complaints out of him. When I finish sprinkling salt and pepper non the meat, I drudge it in flour, egg and then the crushed crackers before placing them in the pan. I start on the salad.

When dinner is ready, I call Ray downstairs. He's a light sleeper, so he shouldn't have a problem hearing me.

When I set the dinner table, Ray enters the dining room, stretching his arms and rubbing his eyes. He must have had a long day out fishing this morning. _Boy, does this man love his fishing._ He's been up since five-thirty this morning.

"Wow, this looks looks fantastic, Annie." Ray kisses the crown of my head and sits down. I sit down beside him and we dig in. _Mm, it's delicious. Man, I can cook! _I laugh internally at the thought.

"So Halloween's next week," I point out as I take a bite of salad.

"Yeah. Got any plans?"

I shrug. "I don't know. Ethan asked me if I was going to some boy's party on Halloween."

Ray looks at me. "Oh yeah? And what did you say?" He actually sounds interested. This is new.

"I said I'd go. Though I'm not sure Christian would be okay with it." _Oh jeez. Did I just mention his name out loud? Ray hasn't even met Christian yet. Damn it, Ana!_

"Christian? Christian Grey?"

_He knows him?_

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. "I didn't realize you knew him." I take another bite of salad. I must be nervous because I'm chewing a lot quicker than necessary.

Ray nods. "Yeah. I met him at the market. I bumped into him and his dad. He introduced himself and informed me that he knew you from school. Quite the gentleman, he is. His father, too."

I blush. I can't believe Christian and Ray met without my introducing them. Boy I feel like a shitty girlfriend. Wait...am I Christian's girlfriend? After last night and what he said, I'd imagine so, but then I remember...I'm not taking that step just yet. _Baby steps_. I repeat the mantra in my mind.

* * *

I'm ready for bed. Boy, this has been quite a day, surely. I close my bedroom door and climb into bed. I reach over to turn off my bedside lamp, but my e-mail pings. I groan and walk over to my computer. _I just want to go to sleep! _I open the sent e-mail and see it's from Christian. My heart begins to pump faster and my cheeks. He's not even here and he has this effect oh me.

_**From: Christian Grey  
To: Anastasia Steele  
Date: October 25, 2013**_

_Ana,_

_I have recently been informed that you will be going to Jose Rodriguez's Halloween party next Friday with Ethan Kavanagh. Is this true?_

I sigh guiltily at the message and quickly write a response.

_**From: Anastasia Steele  
To: Christian Grey  
Date: October 25, 2013**_

_Yes, I am going with Ethan. I felt bad for him. He's never gone to a party with a girl before. Or anyone._

_**From: Christian Grey  
To: Anastasia Steele  
Date: October 25, 2013**_

_Is that what he told you? He goes with a different girl every year. Last year it was Patricia Dawson._

_**From: Anastasia Steele  
To: Christian Grey  
Date: October 25, 2013**_

_So what, Christian? He doesn't have one this year, so he asked me. Why do you care?_

_**From: Christian Grey  
To: Anastasia Steele  
Date: October 25, 2013**_

_****I don't trust him._

I roll my eyes at his response. This guy doesn't trust anyone!

**_From: Anastasia Steele  
_**_**To: Christian Grey  
****Date: October 25, 2013**_

_You don't trust anyone, Christian. He's one of the first friends I've made since I moved here. He didn't have a date, so I accepted his offer to go. If you don't like it, too bad. I am not your property or your girlfriend. Quit acting like this. _

I click "send" and shut down my computer. What the hell is with him? I understand him and Ethan have issues, but that shouldn't conflict with what's going on now.

I climb back into bed, turn off my lamp and drift off into a night of restlessness and dreams of copper hair, gray eyes and unresolved issues. 


	13. Chapter 12

It's Friday and the night of Jose's Halloween party. Throughout the week, Ethan finally introduced us and Jose couldn't seem to control his wandering eye. He kept eyeing me from chest to toe. But I brushed it off. Christian and I haven't spoken since we e-mailed last Saturday. I would occasionally see him walking through the hallways. I would offer him a wave, but he ignored me.

I'm at my locker, exchanging my books for the afternoon. The morning went by fast.

When I close my locker, Kate and Ethan are standing there and I jump with a slight yelp.

I place my hand over my chest. "Jesus, you scared me," I whisper irritably. Kate doesn't say anything. She's just standing there, smiling from ear to ear. "What?"

"I hear you're going to Jose's tonight with Ethan."

I glance at Ethan and he shrugs innocently.

"Yes."

"Do you know what you're going out as?" she asks excitedly.

"Yes, I am going out as Emily Bronte." I smile proudly at my costume selection. I was walking by Ben's Boutique and found it. It was the last one, so I grabbed it. I love British Literature, I enjoy Emily Bronte's work, so why not show off my admiration?

Ethan snorts.

"What?" I snap.

He tries to hide his amusement. "Nothing."

"Got a better idea?" Kate asks me boldly. I feel insulted.

"Um, no."

She smiles bigger. "Okay, well...come over after school and we'll work on you."

I cock an eyebrow, confused. "What is there to work on?"

"Oh believe me, there's plenty." And with that, the bell rings and we all scatter to our classes.

* * *

That afternoon, I follow Kate and Ethan home. Of course Ethan decided to drive with me. I didn't see Christian in history or even after school. I wonder if this is normal for him. He was here last Friday.

When I pull up to the Kavanagh's my jaw drops to the floor. The Kavanagh's home is beautiful. It's all pink, white and blue. It's got pine wood double doors hidden behind four white pillars.

I put the car in park and climb out. Ethan's at my side before I close my door. I follow Kate up the front door and follow her inside. Jeez, her place is amazing! Her living room could fit my kitchen and parlor in it. It has fresh, cream paint on the walls, there's an old, white painted fireplace that's already lit. And there are two cream couches sitting facing each other in the middle of the room with a chestnut coffee table in between them.

"Are you hungry?" Kate asks me.

I shake my head. "Nope."

"You should eat," Ethan says. "If you're going to drink, you need yo eat." He smirks and leads me to the kitchen.

Their kitchen is gorgeous, too. It's all marble counter tops, cream-colored cabinets, a large island with matching details and double-decker ovens.

"Your place is amazing!" I gush. Ethan smiles at me and heads to the fridge. He pulls out three bottles of water while Kate reaches into the oven and pulls out a large oven with a piece of paper attached to it.

"Homemade Shepard's Pie," she says excitedly and places it on the island.

* * *

After we've all eaten, we go upstairs to Kate's bedroom. I'd explain the detail, but it's too much to say. Ethan's already headed to his bedroom, so it's just Kate and me. She disappears into her large walk-in closet and comes out with a purple dress, green scarf and light purple, leather boots.

"I'm going out as Daphne from Scooby Doo." She smiles.

I try to hide my smile but fail.

"What?"

"Nothing." I'm still smiling and she rolls her eyes. She retreats back into the closet and comes back out with two dresses in hand.

"You have two options: sexy devil or naughty witch." As soon as I hear naughty witch, I'm reminded of bumping into Leila. I choose the sexy devil

A little while later, Kate is doing my makeup and hair. She's already done hers, so now it's just me. When she's done I look in the mirror and gasp. I don't even look like me. My eyes are lined with black eyeliner, with brown eye shadow, a lot of mascara, and red lip gloss. It's pretty much transparent, but you can still see a red tint to it. She's even curled my hair! I look...hot.

Kate steps back and puts her hands on her hips to admire her work. "I do good work."

I smile at my reflection.

"Costume time!" she squeals. I grab the red dress and head into the bathroom.

A few minute later, I come out of the bathroom and immediately start blushing when I hear Kate gasp. The top part of the costume is pretty much a strapless, red corset with a small tutu bottom that just covers my backside. I feel so expose. Kate places a headband with velvet red horns on my head and hands me a pair of red, peep toe pumps. When I slip them on, they add an extra five inches.

A minute or two later, Ethan comes in with his blonde hair completely curled and dressed like he's from the nineties or something. His eyes are a very dark brown, they're almost black.

"Who are you?" I ask him.

"I'm Tate from _American Horror Story_," he says and comes to my side. He's still taller than man. Damn it.

"Aw, you guys look so cute!" Kate squeals again. She reaches over to her bed and grabs her camera. "Picture?"

Before I answer, Ethan pulls me to his side and wraps his arm around my waist and smiles. Kate snaps the picture and announces that it's time to leave. It's already half past eight and Jose's party started at seven.

* * *

When we get there, the music is blasting through the open windows. Jose's place is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but the place is still nice and huge. We climb out of the car and Ethan reaches out and takes my hand. As we approach the house, a lot of eyes from nearby boys turn to look at Ethan and me. I blush as we head into the house.

"Hey Kate!" someone from behind us calls.

I hear someone whistle as I walk by. "Looking good, Ana!"

When we're inside, the house is packed. People are walking around, talking, dancing and just letting go. Ethan pulls me closer to his side. I'm beginning to think he's taking this whole Halloween date night thing a little too seriously. I just hope he doesn't push it any further.

"I see Susanna, I'm gonna go say hi," Kate yells over the music and disappears into the living room.

"Do you want a drink?" Ethan yells over the music.

I nod. He takes my hand again and leads me toward the kitchen. We're nearly there when a guy who's slightly handsome with greasy dark hair, pulled back into a ponytail stops us and eyes me seductively.

"Ethan, my man," he yells excited. Ethan's looking at him like he's surprised by this guy talking to him. "Introduce me."

Ethan rolls his eyes. "Ana, Jack Hyde. Jack, Ana Steele."

Jack holds out his hand and smirks. "Nice to meet you, ma'am."

I blush. "Likewise." Ethan pulls me into the kitchen and hands me a red plastic cup full of strong smelling, amber liquid. _Whiskey, my favorite. _

"Happy Halloween!" Ethan cheers and we tap cups. I take a sip and the whiskey burns as it goes down and I feel good. I look around the room. _What to do now..._

* * *

We've only been at the party for an hour and I've already secluded myself to a corner, watching everyone mingle and have fun. I spot a couple making out intensely on the love seat in the living room.

"Hey Ana!" I hear Elliot call and I wave. He's with Kate and they to the back of the house. I don't know how much longer I'm standing there, but I'm startled when I feel an arm wrap around my waist and pull me back against a strong front.

"I must have died and gone to hell," the mysterious stranger growls into my ear. Instantly I'm turned on. How?

I turn to come face to face with a guy dressed like Zorro.

"Nice costume. Ole!" I mimic waving a sword.

Zorro laughs. "You're funny."

"Thanks." I turn back to the party and look for Ethan.

"Looking for your date?" he asks.

"I might be," I sigh.

"Well," Zorro comes around to my front. He's pretty tall, so I'm forced to look up, tilting my head back. "I think I saw him talking to another brunette."

I feel a stab of regret. Maybe it was a bad idea showing up tonight. But I suppose there's not much I can do since Kate is my only ride home.

"Where's your date?"

"I came alone," he says.

"Why?"

"Because my girlfriend decided to go with someone else." And with that, I know who this stranger is. I smile and lift the mask and see that it is in fact Christian. I smile even bigger and hug him.

"Finally, someone else I know!"

Christian. "It's good to see you, too." He kisses my cheek and I blush.

I pull back. "I didn't think you'd come."

"You're here." He smiles and entwines our fingers.

"Yes...I am." I smile in return.


	14. Chapter 13

"So what are you doing here, really?" I ask Christian on our out back. It's a beautiful night: quiet in the distance, the stars are alight in the sky and I'm with someone I can actually handle right now.

He sighs and grabs my hand. "I came to make sure you were okay." And I know he's referring to Ethan.

"Christian, I'm fine. Really, I am." I smile reassuringly at him.

He smiles back but it doesn't reach his eyes.

I stop walking. "Why don't you like Ethan?"

"I told you. Kate and I-" I cut him off.

"That involves Kate. Surely there's something going on between and him alone." I take my hand back and fold my arms across my chest.

Christian shoves his hands into his pockets and nervously shifts from foot to foot.

"I don't know. From the time we met, I knew the kid didn't like me so much. And after the shit that went down with his sister, that gave him even more of a reason to not like me." He shrugs unsure.

"I just want to understand what it is I'm getting myself into by being involved with you?" I say dryly.

"Involved?" He almost looks hopeful. That look on him is adorable.

"Being your friend?"

His expression drops. "Oh. Well there's really Ethan and Leila."

"And Kate?" I ask.

Christian shakes his head. "She's harmless. Just really jealous, I guess. Oh well, she has Elliot." And something clicks in my mind.

"Why is he with her?" Christian looks at me quizzically. "Elliot. Why is he with her if she's jealous of you."

He shrugs. "He's in love. She's his first serious girlfriend and it means a lot to him. It was always me getting the girl, so I stepped back and let him have his turn." He smiles.

"That's sweet," I say with a blush. And for a split second, I think I see Christian blush.

* * *

Back at the party I see Kate and Elliot dancing indecently in the living room. Elliot looks so happy with his arms wrapped around his girlfriend, and Kate looks...drunk. I look around the rest of the house and see Jack staring down at me. He's looking at me like I'm something to eat and I shudder under his gaze.

I lean up to Christian's ear and he bends to help me reach.

"What do you know about Jack Hyde?" I ask loudly, but not enough for me to deafen him.

Christian stands up straight and sees Jack.

"He's a perv, a womanizer and just a straight up asshole." His jaw tenses and he's glaring where Jack is standing with some blonde girl in a Britney Spears outfit. I look up at the mysterious boy behind the mask beside me and smile. He makes it so hard not to feel anything. He looks down and smiles at me.

"What?" he asks.

I shrug. I move around so I'm face to face with him. I reach my hands up to the underside of his mask and start pushing it up, but he catches my wrists.

"Not here," he mouths to me. He takes my hand and leads me back outside.

We walk for a while until the party is far off in the distance that it's barely soundtrack music. When we finally stop we're beside a large lake, the moon reflecting in the black water. It's nice and quiet out tonight, I can't help but smile.

"Here," he says putting my hands back up to his mask, allowing me to continue. I do so. I push the mask over his head and there stands the beautiful boy who no one could deny loving. I drop his mask to the ground and we just stand there gazing into each other's eyes. That pull is still there and suddenly I'm in Christian's arms, his mouth on mine. I reach up and cup his face and he does the same. I moan into the kiss and growls in response.

"Do you have any idea how much I want you?" he growls. Normally when someone asks me that-and believe me, it's happened a lot-I take off and never hear from them again. But with Christian it means so much more; I'm not running.

And without any hesitation or will to stop myself, I find myself saying, "Show me."

Before I know it, Christian lifts me off my feet, wrapping my legs around his waist and walking until my back collides with a tree. I whimper in slight pain and surprise. He whispers an apology, but I could care less about the pain. We continue to kiss, exchanging passion through our oral contact. I run my fingers through his soft, copper hair as Christian's mouth kisses its way from my mouth, over my jawline and down my neck to my shoulder. This action is doing something to me that I never thought could happen again: it's turning me on.

Christian holds me up against the tree with his hips against mine while his hands work on lifting my dress and pulling down my matching red panties. I stop him quickly and my eyes go wide with fear.

"Ana?"

I shake my head.

"Please, Ana, I can take all the pain away. If you'll let me." He looks into my eyes and I see the sincerity in them. I want to keep saying no, but the look in his eyes is making it so hard to do. I move my hands and he continues to slip my panties off. He puts me down on my feet to get them off and then picks me back up. I giggle at how quickly he does it and he laughs. I'm too hot and bothered to let anything else bother me at this moment. This guy wants me and I want him.

I gasp when I feel his erection against me. He undoes the button and zipper on his pants and they pool at his ankles. Jesus, he's huge!

"Like what you see?" He smirks.

I nod violently.

Christian produces a foil packet and tears it open with his teeth before sliding it on to his large, impressive length.

"Are you ready?" he whispers.

I nod nervously and Christian eases himself into me. I moan at the contact. Holy shit, this feeling is amazing. I haven't felt this good in so long. Christian slowly slides out and pushes back until he knows I'm comfortable with him. When I nod in confirmation, he really begins to move. I moan loudly and Christian crashes his lips against mine to stifle my noises. He's pushing into me hard and quick and I can feel myself tightening up inside. Oh, this is so good!

"Oh, Christian!" I moan as my release explodes through me.

"Ana," he growls as he finds his.

* * *

Christian and I are lying down in the grass beside the tree near the lake shore. It's such a nice night and I'm glad Christian showed up tonight. He has his arm around me, holding me close while I rest my head on his chest. I can hear his heart beating in his chest and the sound is so comforting. I keep wondering to myself if I could really be with Christian Grey; not just for the sake of gaining popularity or for the sake of having a boyfriend, but because he's the only one besides Elliot who hasn't thrown any of their issues in my face.

"What are you thinking about?" Christian asks, pulling me out of my reverie. I look up into his intense but beautiful gray eyes and return his smile.

"Everything."

His smile slips a little. "Involving?"

"You and me. How you make me feel."

He cocks an eyebrow. "How do I make you feel?" he asks suspiciously.

I blush. "You make me feel like I matter. Like everything that's happened to me was an obstacle before I made it to the finish line."

"That's exactly how I feel about you," he whispers before leaning down and kissing me again. The kiss doesn't last long because the sound of shifting bushes and footfalls on grass interrupt us. Ethan appears a few feet away and glares at Christian. We both jump to our feet and I flush that Ethan-my date-had caught me with another man. A man he clearly can't stand.

"What the hell, Grey. You making time with my date?" Ethan yells, motioning towards me.

"She's not _your _date, Kavanagh. She's _my _girlfriend. She may have come here with you, but she's leaving with me." Christian shoots daggers at Ethan, but Ethan doesn't flinch a centimeter.

"And what makes you so sure?" Ethan asks smugly.

Christian takes my hand. "Because she deserves someone better than a womanizer such as yourself," he snaps. "She has enough going on in her life and she doesn't yours or Kate's bullshit thrown at her."

Ethan stiffens and says nothing. _Shit, has Christian crossed a line? _And before I see what happens, Ethan lunges at Christian and they both go down to the ground. I scream at Ethan to stop but he doesn't hear me, let alone acknowledge me. I think about running back to the house, but how many people would come down here and actually stop the fight? I'm sure most would come just to see Christian get his ass kicked.

"That's enough, Ethan!" I yell at him.

Without hesitation, Christian rolls them over so he's straddling Ethan starts punching him in the face. Hard.

"Christian, please!" I cry out, tears now rolling down my face. The violence brings back the memories of Hugh beating on my mom for not buying enough food for him and his poker buddies. Christian doesn't stop, instead he just hits harder while Ethan reaches up and tries to sock him in the eye.

I don't hear anyone else coming, but I'm immediately picked up and pulled back through the darkness. I scream and flail, begging the person to let me go. When I see a large Audi SUV, I scream for help even louder. My captor puts me down and turns me to face him. He's got a buzz cut and is looking at me with fear and concern.

"Are you okay, Miss Steele?" he asks. _How does he know my name? _

"I..." I'm rendered speechless so I just nod.

"Have you been hurt?" he asks.

I shake my head. He nods and looks back towards where we left Christian and Ethan. _What's happening? Where are they? _

"W-Where's Christian? Help him!" I yell at the man.

He sighs. "He can take care of himself, ma'am. He'll be alright."

"How do you know that?" My tears continue to come down. Before the man can answer, we hear the shifting of leaves and the man pushes me behind him. Soon Christian emerges, not a scratch or a cut on him. His knuckles are bloody. _Oh my God, what has he done? _

"Sir?" The man calls to Christian.

Christian holds a hand up. "I'm all right, Taylor. Where is Miss Steele?" Taylor moves and I'm standing there, shaking like an earthquake. He hurries toward me and takes me into his arms. The man Christian called Taylor opens the back door of the car and Christian helps me and climbs in behind me. He takes me into his arms, he doesn't bother with his seat belt.

"What happened?" I wipe my tears from my cheeks and look up at him. He's still as handsome as ever.

"After Taylor took you away, Ethan managed to get out from underneath me and tried shoving me into the lake. When that didn't work, I threw him in instead." He smirks as he remembers it. "After that, I came back to look for you."

I sniff and rest my head on his shoulder. Why would Ethan attack Christian like that? It's not like him and I are together, we just went to a party together. And me sneaking off with Christian while he's off somewhere else with God knows who, is no excuse to just jump on someone the way he did. I don't know how I feel about this right now. I don't know how I feel about anything.

* * *

When the SUV pulls up to the sidewalk outside my house, Taylor walks around and opens my door. I smile a thank you and he nods politely. Christian follows me out and up to the front door. I turn to face him and I blush, not sure what to say.

"I had a great time with you tonight," Christian whispers.

"I had a great time with you, too." I smile.

He leans down and plants a chaste, gentle kiss on my lips. I'd pull him closer and beg for more, but after tonight's events, I don't think I could allow myself that. At least not right now. When he pulls away, he smiles.

"You are mine, Ana. And giving yourself to me like that proves it."

I smile. "I'm all yours, Christian."

"Goodnight." He kisses my forehead and descends down the front steps and into the SUV. When Taylor pulls away from the curb, I head inside. I go upstairs, shower quickly, dress in the most comfortable PJ's I own and crawl into my warm bed. I am instantly asleep.


	15. Chapter 14

The following Monday I get to school and everything seems pretty normal. No one's looking at me like I've caught West Nile or like I've contracted an STD from the dirtiest kid around. Everyone is doing their own thing and keeping to their groups. I head down the hallway to my locker and stop when I see Kate. She's leaning against my locker looking seriously upset. I walk slower towards my locker and she straightens when she sees me.

"Kate," I say as I dial in my locker combo.

"What the hell happened at the party?" she whispers angrily to me.

"What do you mean?" I try to look shocked.

"Ethan went looking for you when you clearly weren't in the house. He went out to find you. He was only half an hour before he came back with a busted lip and bleeding nose."

My eyes go wide. I know Christian put a beating on him, but I didn't think it was that bad. I saw some of what happened and Christian said he threw Ethan into the lake.

"I'm sorry, Kate. I don't know what happened." I close my locker after grabbing my morning material.

"Ethan said you were cuddling up with Christian by the lake," she snaps quickly. "What is your problem, Ana? You went out with my brother and sneak off with_ him?_"

I roll my eyes. "You know what? Yes, I did. And right now I am going to be honest about one thing: I am so sick of hearing about your bitching about Christian wanted this and wanted that. I am so sick of Ethan telling me how much of a bad guy he is." I'm raising my voice and people are gathering around, including Christian. But right now I don't care.

"He is a bad guy, Ana! I've been trying to warn you about him since your first day. Are you deaf or something?" Kate spits at me.

"No, but I must be stupid to ever think that I could move here and start a new life away from the drama I just escaped in Seattle. You want someone you bitch at Kate? Talk to a fucking counselor." I turn on my heel and rush down the hall. Just as I get far enough away, the bell rings and everyone scatters to get to class.

"Ana!" I hear Christian call from behind me but I keep walking.

I make to my English class and rush to the back of the room and pull out my things. I need work to get my mind off of all this crap. Honestly, I thought people at this age grew up and let go of their issues. I guess no one ever does.

"Ana," I hear Christian call as he reaches my desk. "Are you okay?"

I nod silently, looking over my notes from Friday. I can't talk about this right now.

"Talk to me," he pleads.

I slap my pen down, startling him. "I'm sorry, but I can't-no, I won't talk about this right now, Christian."

He leans down, resting his hands on the edge of my desk. "Talk to me, please, Ana."

I stay silent and continue to focus on my work.

* * *

I decided to abandon my car for a little while and went for a walk around town. There are quite of few places I haven't seen yet: expensive boutiques, tiny intimate restaurants for dates, and a tiny movie theater a few doors down from the boutique. They were playing _The Lucky One _tonight. I've already seen it and I only had an opinion about Zac Efron's acting. I hadn't read the book, but I'm sure it was better than the film adaption of it.

I head back to the school to collect my car when I see Christian standing there. I sigh heavily and decide to keep walking; I don't think he's going to let up until I talk. When he sees me, his face softens a little.

"Hey," he says cautiously.

"Hi." I stop in front of him.

"Can we please talk?" he pleads. He looks so vulnerable and adorable with the look his of loss in his eyes. He's making hard to say no to him right now.

"About what?"

"About what happened between you and Kate. About what happened at the party on Friday." He shifts nervously from foot to foot.

"There's not much to say about Kate. She was upset about what went down between you and Ethan and why."

"Ana...Ethan isn't right. He hasn't been since he met you and it scares me." He moves to stand in front of me so we're centimeters apart. I look up into his concerned gray eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Christian sighs. "I didn't really pay much attention to you at first, obviously because I didn't know you. But what caught my attention was how often I saw you with Ethan."

I nod, waiting for him to continue.

"Sometimes I would see you around school or outside somewhere at lunch, reading and he would be there."

My eyes go wide with shock. _Ethan Kavanagh has been stalking me? _But then I wonder if this is another tact of Christian's to keep me away from Ethan. But before I jump to any conclusions, I continue to listen.

"I've passed by your house a few times with Elliot and we saw him standing outside your house, just staring up at your window."

Suddenly I feel sick to my stomach.

"I...I don't know what to say," I stutter. I look around, waiting to see if I can find Ethan lurking around somewhere. Christian repeats my actions and looks back down at me. I slowly move around Christian and unlock car door and climb in, but not closing the door.

"Please say something," Christian says as he comes around to stand beside me, blocking the door from being able to close. I stare out the windshield and I begin to breathe heavily. How can I be sure that I can trust these people? I've only been here a few weeks and now look where I am: supposedly being stalked by the brother of the first girl I befriended in this town; in a relationship with one of the richest kids of the richest family in this town; and possibly the person at the top of everyone's gossip list. This is too much.

"I have to go," I say and reach out to close the door, but Christian doesn't move.

"Please don't be afraid, Ana." He frowns.

I frown in return. "How can I not be? You just stood here and told me about some guy I just met who stands outside my house and just stands there." I shake my head and take a deep breath before continuing. "He came to see my a while ago."

Christian's eyes go wide. "What?" he snaps.

I nod. "He came up to my bedroom window. Nothing happened, obviously, but it was definitely unexpected." I shrug and sink low into my seat. Christian immediately pulls me into his arms and holds me close. I can't help but wrap my arms around him and hold me close to me. Feeling the security his arms provided and the warmth of his body, I didn't want to let go.

"Your safety means everything to me, Ana," he whispers and kisses my hair. I pull away and look up into his gorgeous gray eyes. I slowly lean up and he leans down, meeting me halfway and our lips touch gently.

* * *

After an intense make out session in my car with Christian, I finally gained the strength to tell him goodnight and drove home. Ray was passed out on the living room catch with the game still going. I just continued up to my room without stopping and headed into my bedroom, closing the door behind me. I strip off my sweater and t-shirt and my jeans and socks, leaving my in my black lace bra and panties. I walked over to my dresser and opened a drawer and pulled out a a violet t-shirt and matching shorts. I went to pull my shorts on when a voice came from the corner of my room.

"Don't put those on yet," the voice said seductively. My eyes widened when Ethan emerged. My breath hitched in my throat.

"W-What are you doing here?" I try to hide the shock and fear in my voice.

He stepped closer to me, like a predator sneaking up on its prey.

"I saw you talking to Grey earlier. I also heard what he said about me. Did you like hearing about how I would stand outside your bedroom and just listen to do your thing?" I step back until I'm against the wall.

"Every time I stood outside, I always pictured how you looked naked. And here you are-" he motions to my nearly naked body. "-nearly nothing but skin at my disposal."

My breathing quickens. "What do you want?"

"You."


	16. Chapter 15

I feel a tear fall down my cheek. Ethan steps closer to me and I look around but I have no exit route. I'm trapped. I do the one thing my mom taught me to do in case there was nothing else. Scream.

I inhale a deep breath and I'm ready to call Ray, but Ethan's hand comes up and covers my mouth while his other comes to rest on the small of my back, holding me against his body. I could feel the lean muscles under his shirt, but I try to focus on what's going on and how much trouble I'm in. _What am I going to do? _

"Hold on to that, sweetheart," Ethan growled. "I want you to save your noises for me." And before I know it, I'm on my bed, flat on my back with a half naked Ethan on top of me. _Jesus, he's fast. _I wriggle and throw my hands up to try and push him off, but his hands come up and pin both of mine on either side of my head. He begins to flex his hips into mine and I can't stifle a moan.

"That's right, Ana. Feel me. Feel how big I am," he growls as he continues to flex into me. _This is it. This is what I was afraid of if I got involved with someone. _Only I wasn't with this person and he's still doing this.

"Please," I beg and the tears continue.

"Oh Ana...I love to hear you beg."

"Why are you doing this?" I cry.

Ethan slowly leans down to my ear to whisper something, but before he can say anything, I bring my leg up and knee him right in the groin.

"AH!" he yells. "God damn it!" He falls off the bed and on to the floor. I rush to my feet and throw the door open. I'm at the foot of the stairs just as Ethan comes up behind me and shoves me into the wall.

"RAY!" I scream at the top of my lungs. "Ray, please help me!" I cry out as Ethan holds his forearm up to my neck, holding me in place. I turn to look him in the eyes.

"Think you're smart, do you?" he growls murderously. "Nice try, Steele. You're not getting away that easily."

_Whack!_

Ethan falls to the floor unconscious. I look up to see Ray standing there with piece of wood in his hand. I slide down the wall and wrap my arms around myself as I stare down at the guy who had just attacked me. Ethan Kavanagh was one of the nicest kids who had gone bad. I didn't feel much for him as I do for Christian, but was that any reason to sneak into my house and nearly rape me?

"Annie," Ray exhales and pulls me into his arms. "Baby girl, are you okay?" He kisses my hair and rocks me.

I'm sobbing uncontrollably and can't form any words.

* * *

I'm sitting outside on the front porch of my house wrapped in a blanket, watching as everyone in town comes to gather around my house where there are police cars and ambulances parked on the street, all behind the 'Caution' tape. There are expressions of shock, surprise and disgust. I catch a glimpse of Kate and she's on the phone. She's crying hard and she looks like she can barely form any words. Ray is a few feet away on the lawn talking to a cop.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" I hear a deep voice come from behind me. I turn to look up into the face of an African American police officer.

"Y-Yes?" I answer shaking. I'm still calming down from the events of earlier and the hard sobbing I had done after Ray had knocked Ethan down.

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

I shake my head and he begins.

A little later on there's a flurry of activity behind the huge crowd of pedestrians and I immediately see Christian duck underneath the tape and head towards me. But before he reaches me, he's stopped by an officer who's nearly twice his size.

"Sir, you can't be over here," the officer demands.

"That's my girlfriend, John!" Christian shouts. John? _It's a small town. Everyone knows everyone. _

Christian is at my feet and he gently pulls me into his arms. I can't control the urge to sob once again when I'm wrapped in his warmth.

"What the hell happened?" Christian asks without letting me go.

I explain to him what happened.

He holds me out at arms length. "Did he touch you?" I shake my head. "Did he hurt you?"

Before I can answer, I turn my head to see two officers hauling Ethan out of my front door and down the porch. I turn back to Christian and see that he's staring at my neck, fury burning in his eyes. He immediately spins and races after Ethan.

"You son of a bitch!" He yells before jumping on Ethan, knocking him to the ground.

"Christian!" Elliot yells as he races to his brother's side. Kate's still in hysterics as she watches her boyfriend pry my boyfriend off her brother. I'm not sure what to do. "Christian, let him go!" Elliot grunts as he continues to try and pull his brother away.

"I'll kill you if I ever see you again, do you hear me, Kavanagh?" Christian yells before the impact of his fist on Ethan's face, but he doesn't let up. Everyone around us is watching; some people are cheering, some are yelling to get that 'crazy beast off of poor Ethan', and some are just in shock at what's going on in general.

"Christian!" I scream and within seconds, he stops. Everyone and everything goes silent. Christian stands up straight and he turns to me with wide eyes, brushing his copper hair out of his eyes.

"Ana," he whispers. And without another word, I head inside, shutting the front door behind me.

* * *

I'm now in my room sitting on my bed with my knees pulled up to my chest, still crying as my mind runs through the events of tonight, even though I don't want to. Suddenly there's a knock at my door. I call to them and the door opens slowly to reveal Kate. I sigh in disappointment as she closes the door behind her before sitting in front of me on the bed.

"Ana, I..." She's speechless. "I don't know what to say."

I sniff. "Don't say anything."

"But-" I cut her off.

"It's over, Kate. He's gone and I'm sorry," I sob.

"Why are you sorry?"

"Because if I hadn't moved here, Ethan wouldn't be like this and no lives would have changed," I say raising my voice, not meaning to.

Kate's eyes widen. "No no, Ana, you didn't do anything wrong. Believe me, I'm just as surprised as you are about all of this. Ethan has always been sweet guy and now this. I never would have thought that my own brother was capable of something so terrible." She frowns and glances down at her fingers.

"So you don't blame me?" My voice is a little hoarse from all the crying and screaming.

She shakes her head and smiles. Before either of us can say anything, she pulls me into a bone crushing hug and whispers things to me like 'I'm glad you're okay'. After all the drama I had to endure the last few weeks, I'm glad Kate is still around.

Another knock sounds from my door and Elliot walks in.

"Hey, Ana. Are you okay?"

I nod. "You here for Kate?"

He nods guiltily.

I try for a smile. "She's all yours." Kate looks at me and smiles.

"Call me?" she asks and I nod.

Elliot comes further into the room, Christian following in behind him and he looks so hurt it pains me to see it.

Elliot leans down and hugs me tightly. "Take care of yourself, Ana. And I'm glad you're okay." We smile at each other and he leaves with Kate, leaving Christian and I alone in my room. I wrap my arms around my waist and cross my legs in front of me, unsure of what to say to him.

"Ana," he starts. "I am so sorry you saw that. Even after what happened on Friday and what happened tonight. You didn't deserve that." He looks down in shame at his feet. I slowly get to mine and walk over to him, pulling him into a tight embrace. His arms wrap around me and I'm being squished against his muscular body. Here. This is where I want to be right now. This is where I need to be right now.

"Thank you," I whisper into his chest.

"For what?"

I pull my head back to look up at him. "For being here. You're the only I want to see right now."

Christian quickly swoops down and captures my lips with his in a heavy, needing kiss. His arms tighten around me in a way that he hopes I don't go anywhere. I do the same, hoping this is happening, aside from the shit that happened tonight.

When he pulls away he looks down at me and I think I see a tear roll down his cheek.

"What?" I ask in panic.

"I..." He takes a breath. "I can't even begin to imagine how you must have felt. After everything you've been through-" I put a hand up to his lips to stop him.

"It may have been bad, Christian, but the difference between then and now is that you're here."

He smiles and he kisses me again. "I'm so glad you're okay. When Elliot got the call from Kate and he told me there were cops here..." His voice trailed off as he pulled me back to him.

"It's okay, Christian." I rub his back. "I'm okay."


	17. Chapter 16

I didn't go to school the next day because I'm still a bit shaky from last night. Ray didn't force me to go, but he did have to go to work which sucks. I suppose it's not completely bad since I have the house to myself.

The phone rings downstairs and I trudge down the steps and answer it. "Hello?"

"Anastasia Steele?" Oh crap, it's the principal.

"Y-Yes?" I respond nervously.

"Good morning, it's Principal Mathison. I am calling to ask for your permission to give your teachers your e-mail address," she says kindly.

"Umm...why?"

"To e-mail you your homework. Are you not coming in today? I heard about what happened and-" I stopped her there.

"R-Right, yes. Um, yeah you can give them my e-mail," I say quickly. It's bad enough the imprint of last night is still there, but I'd rather not think about it.

Principal Mathison is silent for a moment. "Alright. What is your e-mail address, Anastasia?" I give her my e-mail, she thanks me and I hang up. I make my way to the living room and collapse onto the couch and turn on the TV. For some reason I feel the need to watch some old movies. I turn on the first one I find and fall asleep.

* * *

_"You think you could get away that easily, eh?" Ethan snapped as he wrapped his hands around my neck. _

_"Ethan," I choked out; his grip getting tighter. _

_"You won't last with you him, you know? He can't make you happy like I could," he growled. "But I guess you've made up your mind. He'll break your heart...but I'll save him the trouble." He takes one hand away from my throat, still maintaining a tight grip with his other one and pulls a revolver out from the waistband of his jeans and holds it to my chest. My heart beat quickens and suddenly everything goes black._

* * *

"Ana!" some screams in the distance. It's still dark around me. "Ana, wake up!"

I open my eyes and I'm suddenly screaming and flailing, trying to fight the grip of the man in front of me. I scream at him to leave me alone, but when my vision focuses, I'm faced with Christian. I stop immediately and he's stunned by my random outburst from my dream.

"Jesus, Ana." He holds his hands up in defense. "Are you okay?"

Honestly, I have had people calling me all night and all morning asking if I'm okay and tell them all the same damn thing: _I'm fine! _I don't know to make it more clearer to them. I lean back against the couch and rub my eyes.

"What are you doing here?" I groan.

"I dropped by with your homework." He nudges his chin towards the stack of homework on the coffee table.

I frowned. "I thought my teachers were going to e-mail the work to me."

"Oh, I thought it would be better if I brought by myself." He smiles warmly. "And I wanted to see you."

I smile and rub my forehead. "That's sweet of you, Christian. Really. But you didn't have to."

"My girlfriend was attacked last night and I was nowhere near this place to save her. Excuse me for giving a damn," he snapped. _Whoa, what's he snapping at me for? _

I jump to my feet and glare down at him. "You're snapping at me?"

His mouth opened and then closed. When he opened it again, his jaw just hung there. I roll my eyes and head for the kitchen for some iced tea. When I pull down a glass, I know he's behind me, watching me.

"I'm sorry, I'm not upset with you. I'm upset with myself," he says sadly. I turn around to look at him, forgetting about my drink on the counter. I walk around the island to where he was standing and wrap my arms around his neck. His arms wrap around my waist and all my uneasiness and memories of last night are gone.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." I lean up and kiss him. "You were here, whether it was before or after. You came over and you held me."

"I'm really glad I met you, Ana Steele," he said.

I could stifle my smile. Hearing someone admit something like that to me without having me on my back in their bed or the back of the car really made me feel wanted and special.

"I'm glad I met you, too, Christian." I kiss him again and we hold each other for a little bit.

"By the way," Christian said after a while, "My family wanted me to invite you over for dinner on Saturday."

"Saturday?" I thought about it for a moment. "Sure."

He smiles big, showing his perfect white teeth. "Great."

* * *

Ray got home around six. Christian left around four thirty for me to get some of my homework done. It was nice to have something to keep my mind busy. Honestly, I don't know what I would do after last night if I didn't have Christian Grey in my life. And as an added bonus, I have Saturday night to look forward to. I'm having dinner with him and meeting his parents.

I was studying for a history test the following day. I was in the living room and I left the TV on for some background sound. Ray came around the couch and tipped down to get a look at me. I looked up to see him frowning.

"Everything okay?" I ask him with a quizzical look.

He returns the look. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

I roll my eyes and close my book, getting to my feet. "Ray-Dad, I am getting so sick and tired of people asking me if I'm okay," I snap, heading to the kitchen. "I'm fine." _But was I? _Could I truly be honest with everyone, as well as myself that I was okay after Ethan had nearly...raped me last night? The memories make me shudder violently. I open the fridge and rummage through dinner possibilities. When I don't find any in the fridge, I go through the cupboards and the freezer. I eventually find some frozen dinners and hold one up to ask Ray if he was okay with that. He nodded and I popped his into the microwave first.

I head up to my room after dinner and drop down on to my bed. I'm immediately relaxed until my e-mail dings. _Oh, come on! _I groan internally. I slowly get to my feet and take my time walking to my desk. I stop halfway when something catches my eye. I carefully turn and see a shadow on the wall and nearly jump through the ceiling until I realized it was mine. My bedside lamp was bright enough to cast my shadow over half of the wall at the other end of the room.

I slip into my chair and open the e-mail. It's from Elliot. I begin to read:

_**To: Anastasia Steele  
**_**_From: Elliot Grey  
_**_**Date: November 4, 2013**_

_Ana,_

_I spoke to Kate earlier this evening and found out she went to talk to Ethan. I know this is the last thing you want to talk about, giving what happened. But you need to know that she said he claimed that you invited him over and now you're framing him for an act you initiated. _

My jaw dropped when I read the last sentence. Is he serious? I quickly type back a response.

**_To: Elliot Grey  
From: Anastasia Steele  
Date: November 4, 2013_**

_In what universe is that kid living in? There's no way he can get away with that accusation. _

_**To: Anastasia Grey  
From: Elliot Grey  
Date: November 4, 2013**_

_He's given Kate every reason to believe that you did. _

**_To: Elliot Grey  
From: Anastasia Steele  
Date: November 4, 2013_**

_There's no way anyone can believe him, Elliot. Ray is a witness. If it wasn't for him, I'd probably be in the hospital right now and Ethan would still be out there._

**_To: Anastasia Steele  
From: Elliot Grey  
Date: November 4, 2013_**

_I know Ana, I know, but he's going for a plea of innocence. _

Oh, this is too fucking much. Okay, I can understand that everyone would jump straight to Ethan's side of things because they've known him longer and I'm just the Redgate outsider. But how can anyone just get away with such a horrible crime? If it was just me that's one thing, but there are other girls in this town that he could go after. What if it happened to their daughters and no one jumped in to defend sweet, innocent Maggie? Or party girl, Jennifer? No matter what the background of the person is, Ethan should still not be allowed to get anything he wants.

I sigh angrily and shut down my laptop. I walk over and crash on my bed. I am instantly asleep, forcing myself not to think about any of yesterday's crap and today's e-mails from Elliot.

* * *

I walk through the hallways of Redgate High School and everyone in the hallways are just staring at me. I ignore them and keep walking to my English class because I don't have the energy to send them a smile or a frown. Nothing matters to me right now except just getting through the day.

"Hey," a random eleventh grader steps in my path. "I heard you got Kavanagh arrested," he says with a smirk.

I move to walk around him, but he cuts me off.

"Excuse me," I say trying to move around him, but he cuts me off again.

"What did he do?"

I frown, confused. "It's a small town, go look it up." I finally move around him, but before I get far enough he grabs my wrist, pulling me to a stop. I spin around to say something to him, but a strong hand clamps down on the other guy and I look up to see Christian glaring heavily on the other guy.

"Get your hand off her," he growls. The guy lets go and Christian takes my hand, entwining our fingers. "Now keep walking."

The other guy glares back at Christian before looking at me and continuing on his way down the hall. He looks down to make sure I'm okay. I nod and turn to continue to class. We're about fifteen feet from the door when Christian pulls me to a halt. I turn and look up into is lovely gray eyes.

"Did he hurt you?" I knew this was Christian's way of avoiding the 'are you okay?' question. I nod. We stand in silence for a moment before I notice something catch Christian's eye.

"Incoming," he whispers.

I turn to look but Christian stops me. The next thing I saw was Leila step in between us as if I wasn't there to begin with.

"What is going on?" she snaps the question.

"What do you mean?" Christian asks in a calm tone.

"You and me. Where do we stand?"

Christian smirks before he takes my hand and pulls me around to his side. "I'm standing here with Ana, and you're free to stand there and do your own thing." We walk around the distraught brunette and head into class. 


	18. Chapter 17

When I get home after school, I trudge up the front steps and slip in through the front door. I make it up to stairs before I hear my name being called from the kitchen.

"Annie?" Ray calls.

I sigh. "Yeah," I yell back.

"Can you come in here, please?" I take a deep breath and walk back down and into the kitchen. If I wasn't expecting anymore questions, I was out of luck.

One of the cops from Monday night is sitting down at the kitchen table with Ray with his notepad open in front of him. My breath catches in my throat because I know that this could go either way. The cop looks up at me with hard and serious green eyes and I'm frozen in place.

"Annie, Officer Stanley would like to ask you a few questions," Ray says as he vacates his chair for me. I slowly move towards table and sit down.

"I'll leave you two alone." And Ray heads to the living room. _No please, don't leave me alone! _

"So Miss Steele, I have received word that you initiated the episode that took place here Monday night, is that correct?" he asks professionally.

My heart is in my throat.

"No," I finally say. "I-I did not ask Ethan to come over. If you don't believe me-" I pull out my cell phone and hold it out to the officer. "-you can look through this. You can look through everything, but you won't find anything about me asking Ethan over."

Stanley places my phone on the table. "I'm not interested in how you got him here. What interests me is what took place when he got here. Can you please explain to me what you were doing from Monday morning until the time the police showed up for Mr. Kavanagh."

I sigh and explain everything to him. I don't leave anything out. I tell him everything I told the last three officers I spoke to. I don't know how many more people I have to tell this story to until someone actually decides to listen to me.

"Well Miss Steele, I-" He stops short when he sees something. I turn around to look behind me but nothing seems out of place or anything. "Could you tilt your head back, please?" he asks seriously.

I do as he says and I can suddenly feel rough fingertips tracing along my neck.

"What happened to your neck?"

I jump to my feet and rush to the mirror hanging on the refrigerator door and tilt my head back as best as I can so I can see a large red mark going along my throat from ear to ear. _Holy shit, he left a mark!_ And when I think back on it, it must have come from Ethan when he held me at the neck against the wall with his arm. And that's what I told the officer.

"Well Miss Steele, maybe you like it rough."

_What? What an inappropriate question from an officer._

I fold my arms across my chest in defense. "No I do not," I snap not looking at the officer.

"I'm just trying to get all the facts, ma'am."

"Then get them somewhere else," Ray snaps from the doorway. "I watched that son of a bitch attack my daughter and I want to see some justice served!"

The officer stands. "Mr. Steele, I'm just doing my job."

"By taking sides? Is that part of your job description?" Oh, Ray is angry. I have never seen him so angry before. I mean sure, he got upset when mom refused to take care of me after what happened with Hugh, but damn, this is new.

Officer Stanley no longer has anything to say. He packs up his notepad and pen and heads for the front door. On his way out, Ray yells after him.

"My lawyer will be in touch!" And the door slams shut behind the cop. Ray rushes over to me and pulls me into his arms and I begin to cry. "Shh, Annie," he whispers to comfort me. "Everything's gonna be fine. We'll figure something out."

* * *

_**To: Anastasia Steele  
From: Christian Grey  
Date: November 5, 2013**_

_Can I come over?_

I smile when I read the message. I type back.

_**To: Christian Grey  
**_**_From: Anastasia Steele  
_**_**Date: November 5, 2013**_

_I don't think that's a good idea. Ray is pretty worked up about the officer who showed up here this afternoon. _

**_To: Anastasia Steele  
From: Christian Grey  
Date: November 5, 2013_**

_A cop? Was there a lawyer present?_

_**To: Christian Grey  
From: Anastasia Steele  
Date: November 5, 2013**_

_No._

_**To:**_ _**Anastasia Steele  
**_**_From: Christian Grey  
_**_**Date: November 5, 2013**_

_WHAT? They can't do that! Ana, you need to report that._

I sigh. I don't know what to do. Everyone around here has known each other forever and I'm just some girl who moved here; an outsider. So it's my word against his.

I type back.

_**To: Christian Grey  
**_**_From: Anastasia Steele  
_**_**Date: November 5, 2013**_

_I don't know what to, Christian. This has all been too much. _

There's a pause for a few minutes before Christian replies.

_**To: Anastasia Steele  
**_**_From: Christian Grey  
Date: November 5, 2013_**

_I talked to my dad. You're going to be fine, baby. I promise. _

His dad? Is his dad some legal representative or something?

_**To: Christian Grey  
**_**_From: Anastasia Steele  
_**_**Date: November 5, 2013**_

_What? No Christian, please. I don't want your family involved. Ray has a great lawyer, so there is no reason to worry. _

_**To: Anastasia Steele  
From: Christian Grey  
Date: November 5, 2013**_

_Don't get so worked up about it, baby. My dad is one of the best lawyers in the state of Washington, you'll be okay. _

I don't respond. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. It's bad enough that Christian's brother is dating the sister of the guy who caused all of this. I shut down my computer and try to spend the next few hours doing homework. I give up after about forty-five minutes. I decide to listen to some music until I fall asleep.


	19. Chapter 18

Saturday finally comes around and I couldn't be happier. I get to see Christian and finally meet some different people besides his brother. I got an e-mail from him the night before to let me know that it was a formal meeting so anything fancy would do. Unfortunately I didn't have much fancy clothing so I pulled everything out until I found something suitable. It's a satin, strapless, baby blue cocktail dress that I borrowed from my mother when we went to have dinner with her parents last spring. Not the best evening.

I slip on the dress and slip on a pair of silver, open-toed pumps. I can't believe I didn't go through everything last night because I check the time to see it's 7:56. Christian's going to be here in four minutes! I rush to my vanity and put on some mascara, eyeliner and a bit of lip gloss. I stand back to look at myself. _Not bad_.

* * *

I'm coming down the stairs as Ray opens the front door to reveal a very sexy looking copper-haired, beautifully gray-eyed Christian Grey standing on the other side. He's looking very formal and delicious in his black dress pants, pale white dress shirt and black tie. He looks more business-like than he does a teenager having a nice dinner with his family and his girlfriend.

"So where are you kids off to?" Ray asks, giving Christian a once over. He looks suspicious but doesn't say anything.

"My parents, sir." Christian smiles.

Ray nods.

Christian reaches out for my hand and I step over to Ray to give him a reassuring kiss on the cheek before taking Christian's outstretched hand and heading out to the waiting car. It's the same black Audi that brought me home on Halloween night. _While Christian was busy beating the hell out of Ethan_. I wince at the memory.

"Take care of my daughter!" Ray calls after us. Christian turns and nods at Ray.

When we approach the car, that guy, um...Taylor I think opens the back door and I climb in, Christian following in behind me. When the door is closed, we slip on our seat belts and Christian takes my hand and gently strokes my knuckles with his thumb. I look up into his eyes and a warm smile spreads across his face. I can't help but smile back.

* * *

Christian's house about ten minutes North of town. It was in the middle of nowhere. We passed by a few dimly lit houses on our way and it got extremely dark as we passed each house before reaching the next.

Taylor drives in through an open gate and heads up about a two minute lane way and turns into the roundabout. I don't know how far to the ground my jaw drops, but I feel it when I see Christian's home. It's huge! It's got a chestnut double door entrance that is lit up by two sets of bright lanterns. Off to the left is another set of double doors, but more like the ones you see that lead into a backyard or a patio. Taylor opens my door and I climb out as Christian climbs out the other side. He comes around and takes my hand before heading up to the front door. As we approach a man in a tailored suit opens one of the doors and we step inside. Christian nods at the man and we continue into the large white foyer. I knew Christian was rich, but damn.

"Christian!" A young woman about my age with a black bob cut and dressed in a black, one strap satin dress comes rushing down the hallway and jumps into his arms. I feel awkward and I guess he does too because he shoots me an exasperated look.

She pulls away and looks at me. "You must be, Ana," she squeals.

I blush. "I must be."

She pulls me into a hug, nearly knocking the wind out of me when we collide.

"Okay Mia, take it easy," Christian says, pulling the girl off me. He takes a deep breath. "Ana, this is my sister, Mia."

"It's nice to meet you," I say shyly.

She hugs me again. "Oh, it's so nice to meet you, too. Christian has told us so much about you."

I look up at Christian and I think I catch him blushing. Again! Christian entwines our finger and pulls me close to his side. We head back down the hallway and into a large white living room with an already lit fire. I see Elliot sitting down in one of the sitting chairs and he looks up and smiles when he sees me. I catch a glimpse of strawberry blonde hair and when she turns around I see it's Kate. I gulp and brace myself for another inquisition. She gets to her feet, looking all gorgeous in her red chiffon cocktail dress. She looks absolutely stunning.

"Hey, Ana." She comes over a gives me a hug. I hug her back unsure of what to expect. I look up at Christian and he's watching her closely.

"Ana, my other favorite gal," Elliot says before hugging me and lifting me off my feet. I giggle a little and he sets me back down.

Christian moves behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me back against his hard body. I can't help but smile. He looks down at me and leans down to kiss my cheek.

"Is anyone thirsty?" a woman in an emerald green, wide-shouldered cocktail dress walks in. She stops dead when she sees me. Her face remains impassive until she assess me in Christian's arms. "You must be Ana." She smiles.

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

Christian removes his arms and I immediately feel naked without him. The woman walks towards me and puts her hand out. She's as beautiful as everyone else in the room. She's got blonde hair, striking eyes and beautiful skin.

"I'm Dr. Grace Trevelyan-Grey." I reach out and we shake hands. She offers me a warm smile and I return it. She really is quite stunning.

"Y-You have a lovely home, Mrs. Grey," I say nervously.

"Oh please, Ana, call me Grace."

"Grace," I say testing the word.

"Would you like a drink, Ana?" Grace asks me in a velvet voice.

I nod.

"Gretchen!" she calls and a young blonde woman in a maid's uniform comes in carrying a tray of something bubbly. "Champagne, Ana?"

I turn to look at Christian nervously and he reaches over to take a glass and sips it. "We're not completely anti-alcohol," he jokes. My cheeks heat and I take a glass.

* * *

When dinner comes around, we all head into the massive dining room. I take a seat near one head of the table, Christian sitting next to me, Mia next to Christian, and Kate and Elliot across from Christian and I and Grace at the other end closest to Mia.

"Where is Carrick?" I hear Grace ask the blonde maid.

"He'll be in soon, ma'am," she says before retreating to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, a handsome man walks into the dining room and greets everyone before walking to his wife's side and kisses her cheek. She smiles and greets him with a 'hello, darling'. When he comes back around to my end of the table, I keep my head down, unsure of what to expect.

"You must be Ana," the man says when he sits down.

"I am, sir." I blush.

"Call me Carrick," he says with a smile and we shake hands. "Christian has told us so much about you, Ana."

Christian takes my hand under the table and I squeeze it tightly.

"Has he?" I swallow hard.

"He has. And um," he leans in close to my ear. "He happened to mention you're in some kind of trouble with a young fellow, but we can discuss this after dinner," he whispers. He leans back and I smile apologetically. I look up to see Grace smiling behind folding fingers in front of her mouth.


	20. Chapter 19

After dinner everyone had adjourned to the living room for tea, coffee and whatever topic of interest seemed interesting. Carrick held me back and led me to his office. When I walked in I was amazed to see that it was bigger than my bedroom. There was a fireplace, a large desk by a floor-to-ceiling window and the walls on the left and right side of the window were nothing but bookshelves. He had some work by Dan Brown, the Bronte sisters, Jane Austin, and so on.

"Tea, Ana?" Carrick asks me.

I shake my head.

"Alright." He motions to one of the sitting chairs on my side of the desk while he moved around and took his seat on the other. He seemed to be in a state of business now.

"So Ana, Christian has told me about your recent encounter with Ethan Kavanagh and now he is trying to pin it on you. Is that correct?" Jeez, that last question brought back my interrogation with that cop. I shudder.

"Y-Yes, sir."

"Don't be nervous, Ana, I'm here to help you." He smiles kindly at me.

I sigh. "With all due respect Mr. Grey-"

"Carrick," he corrects me.

"Carrick. With all due respect, my father has a lawyer and I think we'll be just fine with him."

"But can your lawyer convince Ethan's lawyer to drop his plea of innocence?"

I shrug.

"Well, I think we can work on that." He pulls out a notebook and pen. "But please, give me a chance."

After a very helpful meeting with Carrick, I feel much more at ease about the situation. I decided to take him on as my lawyer, but the one thing that I can't let go of is how am I going to pay him.

"What is it, Ana?" he asks. _Crap! I must be letting my thoughts through my expression again_.

"Oh, um..." I gulp. "I'm just not sure how I'm going to afford to take you on as my attorney."

Carrick holds a hand up. "No worries, hun. I am merely helping out family." He smiles.

My eyes go wide. Oh jeez, does he think I'm going to marry Christian already?

"F-Family, sir?" I stutter in shock.

"And friends," he corrects himself. "But if it makes you feel any better, I mean that I am helping the girl who keeps my son happy. And by keeping my son happy, that is the best payment I could ever receive."

I feel my heart swell with warmth. I have never met a parent who was so dedicated to his children before. Hearing how Carrick is ready to aid his son in a legal matter, let alone helping the girl who's in the middle of it, that means more to me than words could describe.

Suddenly there's a knock at the door and Christian walks in.

"You know Anastasia is _my _date, right?" Christian jokes.

Carricks laughs. "Yes, son. I believe so." Carrick gets to his feet and walks around the desk, holding out his hand. "If you have any questions regarding what we talked about, don't hesitate to call me."

I stand and shake his hand. "I won't." I walk out with Christian, Carrick not far behind.

* * *

Christian and I are on our way back to Redgate and the night sky is beautifully lit with stars. I can't believe I didn't notice this on our way here. Christian is holding my hand tightly as if I might fade away in front of him. He's looking out the window, concentrating on something. I wish I could tell what a person was really thinking just by assessing their body language.

Christian turns to look at me. "So what did you two talk about?"

"What?"

"You and my dad. Did everything go okay?"

I nod.

"Ana?"

"Yes Christian, everything we talked about was very helpful." I look out my window.

"So..?" he presses.

I roll my eyes. "I accepted his offer to act as my legal attorney, alright?" I snap and look back out the window.

"Are you mad?" he asks cautiously. I turn to look into his eyes as best as I could despite the darkness in the car.

I exhale deeply. "No. I'm sorry, I'm just so fed up and frustrated with everything that's going on." I lay my head back. "I left Seattle for a new life and this is what I walk into. I'd take Hugh and Bradly any day."

Christian ripped his hand out of mine and ordered Taylor to stop. He hits the brakes so hard I snap forward in my seat and I'm grateful for my seat belt, otherwise I'd have gone through the windshield.

Christian jumped out of the car and began stomping in the direction of a nearby open field. I watched him go about ten feet before I threw myself out and went after him.

"Christian!" I called. I was running and I could feel all the air leaving me. "Christian, please!" _Jeez, he's fast._

He spun on my so fast I stopped and nearly fell back. "What!"

I caught my breath and spoke. "What's wrong? What did I say?"

He scoffs. "Why do you care? And clearly you don't, so go back to Seattle with all your shit."

"Christian," I say, feeling tears well up in my eyes again. "I don't wanna go back there. Ever."

"You said you'd rather have Hugh and Bradly over me!" I could now see a glimpse of liquid forming in his eyes.

"No!" I yell. "I don't want that life!"

"You just said-"

"I have you!" I yell again, cutting him off. "I want you, Christian Grey. Not all of this shit with Ethan. I want a normal life, with a normal guy, in a normal town."

"Ana," he whispers.

"I have been through so much shit in my life, Christian. I'm surprised I'm stable enough to be here right now." The tears begin to come full flow now. I don't even try to hold them back.

Within seconds I feel two strong hands cup my face and full, soft lips crash against mine. I grab a hold of Christian's wrists and our lips begin to battle. He holds my face close to his and his tongue starts to invade my mouth. I moan as our tongues begin to fight for dominance.

"I don't want to lose you," I choke.

"I'm not going anywhere, baby," he whispers against my lips. I pull back and wrap my arms around his neck and pull him against me, holding him as close as I possibly can.

"Stay with me tonight."

He nods and leads me back to the car. We head back to my house in silence.

When we get to my house, Christian tells Taylor to head home. Taylor nods and drives off into the night.


	21. Chapter 20

When we get inside I head straight upstairs and Christian is behind me, not even hesitant glance at the living room. _I wonder if Ray's home_. I open the door to my bedroom and let Christian in before I close the door and lock it. I immediately hear my e-mail and walk over to my desk, sit down and open it.

_**To: Anastasia Steele  
**_**_From: Carrick Grey  
_**_**Date: November 8, 2013**_

_Anastasia, _

_I just thought you should know that I have some terrific news. I spoke to the Kavanagh's __attorney and she's agreed to have us all sit down in a private courtroom and figure out what's going to happen with Ethan._

My jaw drops open. I can hear breathing in my ear and I slightly turn to see Christian reading over my shoulder. _Nosy_.

"That was fast," I say staring at the screen.

"When a situation like this happens, my dad doesn't settle for less. He'll keep fighting until someone gives in." Christian closes the e-mail window and straightens, pulling me up with him. He wraps his arms around my waist and holds me close.

"Do you have any idea how much you mean to me?" he asks in a whisper.

"Christian...we've only been going out for a couple of weeks or so. I'm not sure you have an idea yourself."

"You're wrong, Ana. I never knew how much someone could mean to another until now. Since I've met you, I wanted nothing more than to have you at my side, holding my hand and calling you mine."

I feel my cheeks catch fire and I'm blushing like crazy. I have never heard nor expected a teenage boy to declare such feelings before. But we're both still so young and we don't know what we want out of life yet.

"I want you, Ana," he says answering my thoughts. _Holy crap, that is really creepy_.

"I want you, too, Christian," I whisper.

"Then let me have you any way I can."

I nod.

He leans down and presses a gentle kiss on my lips before it becomes more heated. He cups my cheek with his hand and slowly walks me backwards until the backs of my knees bump against the mattress of my bed. He carefully pushes me, causing me to fall backwards onto my bed without breaking the kiss. His one hand stays on my face while the other begins to feel my body, starting at my shoulder, down my arm until he reaches and settles on my hip. He starts to flex his hips against mine and I moan into the kiss. He's already hard.

"Ana," he whispers as his lips move down to my neck.

"Christian, please..."

He leans up so he looks down on me. "Please, what?" he asks.

"I don't want slow and romantic. I want you to take me. Now."

He lets out a deep breath and pulls me up so I'm sitting and reaches around to unzip my dress. The front falls down and pools around my hips while I'm still sitting.

"No bra," he growls. "I like it." He motions me to lift my hips. I do so and he slips the dress off the rest of the way until I'm left in nothing but my panties. He goes to remove them when I stop him.

"No."

He gives me a quizzical look.

"I'm three-quarters naked. It's your turn." I sit up and undo his tie before unbuttoning his shirt, slide it off his shoulders and throw it on the floor. Next I unbuckle his belt, unbutton them and Christian decides to stand up and let them fall freely the rest of the way. He smirks at me and I can't help but smile. He crawls back onto the bed and kisses me again, knocking me back until he's hovering over me.

"Take me," I whisper.

"Your wish is my command, Ana." He slips off my panties followed by his boxers. He reaches down to his pants and pulls out a foil packet. He rips it open between his teeth and slides it on to his really. Big. Length.

He hovers and back over and connects our lips once again and pushes into me. I moan loudly as I feel him stretching me and filling me. Jeez, I have never felt for someone as I do for Christian Grey. He's opened a door to me to a whole other world and I don't care if I ever find my way home. Right now I feel like Dorothy in the the land of Oz. It almost feels blissfully normal.

"I don't think I could ever get tired of you, baby," Christian whispers with each thrust of his hips. Nothing in the world could beat this moment or beat what we have. And I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make this work because this man on top of me is no Bradly or Ethan.

"Oh!" I moan as I feel my release building.

"Come for me, Ana," he growls. And with his words I explode around him.

He falls onto the bed beside me. We are both out of breath. He rolls onto his side so he's facing me and wraps an arm around my waist.

"You're mine." He kisses my cheek.

"Yes I am." I can't help but smile. Christian Grey has been so wonderful to me, no words could describe it. All I can really do is show him how much he means to me the best way I know how.

* * *

I'm woken up by my cell phone the next morning. I sit up and look around; I hadn't even realized we had fallen asleep. I look to bedside table and answer the call.

"Hello?" My voice is still hoarse.

"Ana?" It's Carrick.

"Um, yes?"

"I'm sorry to call you so early, but I need to inform you to mark down November twenty-forth."

I frown. "W-Why?"

"Because that's when we're going to court for Ethan."

I feel my blood run cold and I can feel my face paling with each passing second.


	22. Chapter 21

"Ana, what is it?" Christian panics when he sees my expression. I have been sitting cross legged on my bed with wide eyes, staring at the bed for over an hour since I got off the phone with Christian's dad this morning.

I'm going to court in two weeks to testify against Ethan for attempted rape. I don't want to go to court for this! If this happens I'll never live it down. If he ends up going to jail everyone in Redgate will know and they may try and get me kicked out of town. Just when I was beginning to settle in.

I sigh. "I'm going to court."

"What?" No doubt he's shocked.

"Yeah, your dad called me. Two weeks from now I'm going to be sitting in a private courtroom and speak about how Ethan attacked me."

Christian sits up beside me and wraps an arm around my shoulders pulling me close to him. I rest my head on his shoulder and I feel threatening tears stinging my eyes.

"Don't worry, baby. My dad is amazing at what he does. Even if Ethan is let go he'll work something out to benefit you."

I look up to my boyfriend's eyes and I can't help the smile. Partly because he's so great to me and because I'm still wrapping my head around the idea of calling him and introducing him as my boyfriend.

"Boyfriend," I say testing the word.

"What?"

_Crap, I said that out loud!_

"Nothing." I smile and kiss him.

"I had a really great time last night," he whispers against my lips.

"Me too." I kiss him again. Christian's arm around my shoulders tightens as he pulls me closer to him. He leans into me and I fall back against the bed, him hovering over me again.

He gives me a once over and smiles.

"You are so beautiful, Anastasia."

I blush. "You are, too."

He cocks and eyebrow and we get lost in each other.

* * *

We walk downstairs a half our later and notice that Ray isn't around. I head into the kitchen to see some toast and eggs made. There's a note written next to our breakfast.

_Annie,_

_I know Christian stayed over last night. I'm not mad I just wish you would have told me._

_I went grocery shopping, so here's a little something for the two of you._

_- Ray_

I smile and put the note back down before I begin nibbling on a piece of toast.

"What?" Christian asks.

"Ray knows you stayed last night."

He stiffens. "He does?"

I roll my eyes and smirk. "Relax babe, he didn't mind."

"Babe?" He cocks an eyebrow and he looks curious. "I love the sound of that."

I giggle. "As do I."

For the next little while Christian and I sit at the kitchen table, eating our breakfast and talking. It feels so normal despite all the shit going on around us. I don't remember the last time I actually smiled with someone who made me feel so good and carefree. I don't want it to end.

Suddenly the front door bursts open and Ray comes in bearing shopping bags. I rush over and help him bring everything in. Before I make it to the kitchen Christian comes over and takes the bags I took from my dad. _What the hell, I was fine. _

"Thanks, kids," Ray says as he sets the last of the groceries on the counter.

I start emptying the bags and sorting everything out. Boy, Ray bought a lot of food. Maybe enough to last us until this time next year. Ray collapses at the table and wipes his forehead. Christian is leaning against the counter watching me.

I glance at Ray who looks out of breath and I laugh.

"Oh, come on, dad. It couldn't have been that bad," I tease.

"Hey, you try fighting with an old man to see who goes before who. Those geezers may look weak, but boy are we all wrong." He exhales and I laugh again. I look over at Christian and he's smiling kindly at me and my heart rate begins to pick up.

"What do you want for dinner?" I ask Ray but I'm looking at Christian.

"How about takeout?" Ray says in a tone that says he's trying to pull me away from Christian.

"But you just bought all this food." I motion at the half sorted groceries.

Ray shrugs. "So?"

I half smile. "I'll scrounge something up." I turn back to Christian. "Are you staying?"

Christian glances at Ray and Ray glances back. Both remain impassive and it's kind of unnerving. Finally he speaks.

"No, thank you. I should probably call Taylor and have him pick me up."

I frown and my shoulders slump. I was looking forward to him staying a little longer.

"You can stay, Christian." Ray stands and smiles at my man. I giggle inside; _my man_.

"Really sir, I don't want to impose." Christian smiles nervously.

Ray waves a dismissive hand. "Don't be silly. It's nice having you around, especially since you keep this one smiling and on her toes." Ray winks at me.

My eyes go wide and I think I pale a little. I quickly finish putting everything away and rush up to my room. As soon as I get in, my phone rings.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hey, Steele," a familiar voice comes from the other end.

My heart stops.

"What do you want, Ethan?" I try to sound strong.

"Just calling to say hello. And also to let you know that when I get out of here, I'm coming back for you, only this time I won't fail and I'll make sure you won't say a word to anyone. Especially that son of a bitch, Grey."

"W-What makes you so sure you'll be let go?"

He chuckles. "Trust me...I know." He hangs up.

* * *

"Was that Ethan?" Christian voice sounds from behind me. I spin around in total surprise and swallow hard, expecting an outburst.

"Was it?" he asks again after a moment or two of silence.

I slowly nod.

Christian's eyes blaze with fury and he looks like he could run out the jail where Ethan is staying and beat the hell out of him. I can't say I blame him or that I would stop him either, but I can say that if he were in fact to go out and do something about Ethan calling me today it could put him in jail and I'd probably never see him again.

"Please don't be mad," I whisper, not sure what to expect.

"Mad? I'm not mad, Ana, I'm furious!" he snaps loudly, almost yelling. And before I know it, I hear loud footsteps ascending the stairs and down the hallway to my room. _Oh no_.

"What's going on here?" His eyes focus on Christian.

"Nothing, dad."

"Ethan had just called Ana," Christian says quickly.

"What?" Ray yells. "What did he want?" His tone is demanding.

I sigh heavily and look down at my fingers.

"Ana!" Ray snaps.

"He's sure his lawyer is going to get him out of jail. And when he does, he's coming after me." As I repeat Ethan's threat I feel my blood run cold and my body stiffen.

Christian slams his fist against the wall. Ray pretends like it didn't happen; he's too focused on me that the whole house could come down and he couldn't care less. I feel a tear run down my cheek and I quickly wipe it away. _What am I going to do? _

"I'll tell you what we're going to do," Ray starts, reading my mind. _How do they do that? _"I'll send you to your aunt in Baltimore until we get this shit figured out."

"Dad, I have a court hearing in two weeks. Christian's father has offered to be my lawyer and I need to be here if this is going to work."

Ray looks at Christian is surprise. "Your father's a lawyer?"

Christian nods.

Ray is now looking at me. "What's wrong with Daniel?"

"N-Nothing, dad. But Mr. Grey comes highly recommended around here. So I spoke to him-"

"You spoke to a lawyer without consulting me or taking me with you?" Ray snaps.

"I really think this is beside the point," Christian jumps in. "My dad is one of the best attorney's in the state of Washington. If you want I can bring him here and you can talk to him."

Ray places his hands on his hips for a moment as he thinks about it.

"No," he says. "I'll take my daughter's word for it."

"So what's going to happen now?" I ask. Is he still going to send me to Baltimore? I hope not.


	23. Chapter 22

I don't go to school for the next two weeks, but Christian has been kind enough to bring me my homework and lessons from all of my classes and returning the finished material. Countless times I have insisted that he not do that, but that boy will not listen to a word I say. But I can't deny it...he's been incredibly sweet and supportive of me since this whole thing started. I can't even imagine why Ethan and Kate would say such horrible things about him.

* * *

It has finally come. It's finally the day I once again come face to face with Ethan Kavanagh and the day I find out whether he stays in jail or if he goes free. Ray has the car on standby in case the odds aren't in my favor and he's packed me some things to send me to Baltimore with. We spent two days fighting over me going to my aunt's and being away from Christian. Christian has been my rock and sanity since this whole thing started, I can't just leave him like that. I know it has to do with my safety, but I'm not going anywhere without him.

I'm sitting with Carrick and Christian in a large, marble waiting area outside the room where I will be going into very soon. Christian insisted he come for support and disagreed with leaving me alone anywhere near Ethan. Carrick assured him that I would be safe with him, but Christian wouldn't have any of it. _My hero_.

"Anastasia Steele?" A bald man in I'm guessing his mid-fifties slips out the door, looking around. I guess he's the judge.

I stand.

He nods. "You may come in now." He steps aside, awaiting mine and Carrick's entry.

I turn to Carrick and he takes the lead. I follow close behind but I feel someone grab my wrist and I spin back and my lips meet Christian's. He kisses me hard and passionately. He cups both of my cheeks with his hands and I hold onto his wrists. My blood begins to boil and my heart begins to race.

He pulls away, still holding my face. "No matter what happens, I will be here for you, Ana," he whispers.

I nod and kiss him one more time before heading into the courtroom.

* * *

My arms are folded and my forehead is resting against them. Carrick and the judge have been talking for a long time and we're still waiting for Ethan. I've been feeling anxious since I entered the room. How am I going to react when I see him? I close my eyes and sigh and before I know it, I hear the door open but I don't look up.

"Ah, Miss Lawrence. Mr. Kavanagh," the judge greets disapprovingly. My head shoots up instantly and I look at Carrick. He rubs my back to calm me down and I take a deep breath.

"My apologies Your Honor. I was about two blocks away when I found a roadblock. So I had to turn around and-"

The judge holds his hand up. "I don't want to hear it, Miss Lawrence. I have been waiting long enough."

Ethan's lawyer and he sit down at the table across from us and he's smirking at me. I cringe under his stare and I carefully look up at the judge.

"So we have all agreed to keep this matter private. No witnesses, no jury, nothing. Just us."

We all nod.

"So I'm going to start with you," the judge says to me. "What happened the night of this altercation?"

I explain everything that happened. Where I was, who I was with, everything. As I told my recollection of that night's events, I caught a few glimpses of Ethan scowling, smirking and giving me a downright death stare. I stutter here and there, but I managed to keep the story the same.

"Alright." He turns to Ethan. "Your turn Mr. Kavanagh."

Ethan looks at me and begins his testimony. He once again claims that I invited him over that night and immediately began making sexual advances on him. He also explains that I made up my story based on lies my "stupid excuse of a boyfriend" has told me about him and his sister. I catch Carrick glaring hard at Ethan when he begins mentioning Christian, but he remains content.

The judge sighs. "Alright." He stands. "If you would all step outside for a few minutes, I'll look this over and call you in when I have a verdict."

We all stand and Carrick leads me out first. Christian isn't there when I'm out of the room and my heart sinks.

"Ana?" Carrick calls me. I turn to look at him. "I'm going to get a cup of coffee, would you like anything?"

I shake my head and he leaves. I take a seat and rest my head against the wall behind me. This whole thing could go either way. I have never been in a situation like this before, so I have no idea what to expect from this. If Ethan's let go, I leave Christian and go to Baltimore. But hopefully if he's put back in jail, I can stay and I wouldn't have to worry about Ethan Kavanagh ever again.

* * *

We're sitting back in the courtroom and we're all sitting quietly as we wait for the judge to speak up. Christian never came back from wherever he went and I started feeling sick because maybe he left because he couldn't handle this. Maybe he could guess what the odds were and he couldn't be around to see the tragic ending of this.

"Now," the judge begins. "This took a great deal of thinking. I have considered both statements, but only one was liable." He glances at me and my heart stops.

"I happened to notice the very faded marks on your neck, Miss Steele, and that will not stand for Mr. Kavanagh."

"So what are you saying, Your Honor?" Ethan's lawyer asks.

He takes a deep breath. "I'm saying that Ethan will not be going free today."

I see Ethan's eyes go wide with anger and fear.

"What?" he growls.

"Your story would have been more believable, had Miss Steele not come in with those bruises." He points to my throat. "You will be sentenced to two years in the Washington State Juvenile Detention Centre with one year parole."

As soon as the judge finished giving Ethan's sentence, Ethan began freaking out. The Bailiff came rushing in and restrained him. We were rushed out into the waiting area.

Ethan begins kicking and yelling as the Bailiff and two other guards carry him out of the room and down the hall. I walk out of the room and I see Christian standing there looking shocked. Tear flow down my cheeks and I can't help but smile.

"Dad?" he says.

"We did son, he's going away for a long time."

Christian cheers and pulls me into his arms.

"I'm going to call your father," Carrick says before leaving us alone.

"You're staying. You can stay!" Christian cheers and I realize he's crying now.

I wipe his cheeks. "I'm not going anywhere."

He takes a deep breath. "I..."

"Christian?"

"I love you, Ana."

My eyes go wide and without another word, I pull his lips down to mine and he wraps me in a tight embrace. He's gone. _But what about Kate? _I don't know what will happen to Kate, but I know that I'm not going anywhere and that I get to stay with Christian.

"Ana?" Christian pulls me out of my thoughts.

"I love you, too." I smile.

He smiles big and hugs me tightly.

I have been waiting for this for weeks and it's finally come. Ethan's gone and this can all be left behind us. This just proves that after all the shit I've been through in my life, there's good that waits at the end. Hugh is gone, Bradly is gone and now Ethan is gone.

_Bad things happen to good people, but the good always weighs out the bad, _my mother's voice echos in my mind. She was right. Like always. I miss her, but we're in different places now. I'll go visit one day, but right now I just want to celebrate what I have right now.

_**The End.**_


	24. Author's Message

Hey everyone!

Sorry I haven't been writing in a while, I've been having a bit of a hard time coming up with some ideas for a new story. If there's a request you'd like to make, let me know. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as I'm aware of what it is I'm writing about.

If you have any ideas, send me a PM and go from there.

Thanks for all the positive feedback. Your reviews are awesome.


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